Paper Flowers and Cat Whiskers
by linkinparkfan9799
Summary: Trixie isn't your average sweeper. She's actually part cat and was targeted when she was ten. The target caused the death of her parents, her younger brother, and her sister leaving her to fend on her own. She has a Guardian Character named Willow and a friend named Ikuto who also has a character. Once she meets Train, her life question will finally be answered: Why? Train X OC.
1. Good to Bad

**From the Author of **_**Lost Bird **_**and the **_**Ice and Blood **_**series…**

**Linkinparkfan9799 Stories**

**Black Cat/Shugo Chara-T**

**Paper Flowers and Cat Whiskers**

_One: Good to Bad_

Every story begins at some point. Mine begins at the very beginning on the very day I was born: Friday, November 13, 1981. I was born with purple cat ears and a thin cat tail I'm regulated to trim at least every Sunday. I had a good life, filled with loving friends, relatives, and presents from those loving people. Back then I was always smiling, but I always had a nick for dark colors like navy, black, and deep purple, such color of my tail and cat appendages. If you ever meet me in person, please don't ask if I have a 'backwards boner'. Trust me I've had enough of _that _crack to suffice a person's hunger for ten years. It's my tail, plain and simple.

Now, I bet you're wondering 'why I keep saying HAD this and HAD that'. Well, all of that was taken away, obviously. On my tenth birthday, my parents let me watch the only TV in the house for hours while they got the kitchen ready for my party. Julia and Max, my older sister and younger brother, sat on either side of me, watching an _American _show, seeing our parents were head over heels for American culture and behavior. That's how I got the American name, Trixie, and not a traditional Japanese one like Kaede or Maki.

After a while, Julia started to worry a lot, so she went inside. Max was oblivious to everything, even when I slapped him in his sleep to kill a bug on his cheek. Yep, he slept like a baby. Julia screamed and Max clung to me, so I had to limp in. Mom and Dad were wide-eyed and Julia was staring at something on a cabinet. The wall prevented me from seeing the exact words, and I never saw the message. Nope. Julia rushed me back into the room and shut off the TV. "Mama," I whimpered, "why's Julia upset? Mama?"

Mom walked in and smiled sadly. I didn't get it then, and I don't get it now. "Oh, that's because you're party isn't done yet!" she giggled.

"Oh," I blinked. "It's okay Julia. It's not that important."

Julia blinked out hot tears and sighed, hugging me. "Saying that is like saying you're not Trixie."

Max let go and sat on the ground, playing with the carpet fibers. After a few minutes, the doorbell rang. Mom and Dad exchanged glances before pushing Julia over to us gently. Mom took a deep breath and opened the door. "Ye-"

She didn't get to finish as the roar of bullet-fire damaged my ears temporarily. Her blood splattered all over the walls and Dad was pushing Julia, Max, and I for the back door. "RUN!" he screamed. "RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN AND DON'T YOU DARE LOOK BA-"

Someone shot him straight through the heart. He fell forward and Julia shoved us out the door, Max struggling. "Papa! Mama!" he cried. "PAPA! MAMA!"

I was sobbing as Julia hurried us along. Max broke free of Julia's grip. "NO! MAX!"

"PAPA! MA-"

His brains splattered all over the frigid concrete as his body fell backwards. In the back doorframe was a man with charcoal hair and piercing red eyes. I never forgot them. "Get the girls!"

Julia shoved me along as I cried, running as fast as I could. My purple bob hid my left eye, even though it wasn't any different from the right green one on the left with a cat's pupil. We ran for what felt like days, what was actually one. Julia stopped us in a damp alley, rats scurrying from one side to the next. "This is where we part," she choked on her tears.

"What?" I gasped. "Sister, no!"

I grabbed her sleeve, but she just jerked it away. "You…You have to live at least…They came for _you_. They wanted to kill you, Trixie. Please…at least live…"

"Can't we live together?" I begged. "Trixie wants to stay with Sister!"

She stroked the area between my cat ears. "I'm going to that orphanage," she pointed across the street. She wrote something down and slipped it into my nimble and dirty fingers. "This is my cell phone number. Call me when you need me, okay?"

I sniffled and she patted the crown of my skull before running across the street to knock on the door. I turned away and ran in the opposite direction. I was ten, and she expected me to fend off for my own. How was _that _going to happen? I tripped over a curb eventually, scrapping my knees and palms. My fingers dug into my palms, the knuckles white. I sobbed. "I need help!" I screamed with my eyes closed. "Someone…PLEASE HELP ME! I NEED A FRIEND OR SOMEONE!"

My forehead dropped onto the cold concrete as my tears warmed up my cheeks. "Don't cry, Onee-chan!" a small voice whimpered. "I'm here!"

I blinked out some last few tears and pulled my head up to a tiny girl with white cat ears, a un-trimmed, snow-white tail waving behind her rump. She was sitting on the sidewalk in front of my sharp nose, her head tilted to the side and her honey-gold eyes staring at me, big as her stomach. Her hands were replaced with fuzzy, white paws, tiny claws popping out. She had a white tank-top and golden-colored shorts going to her mid-thigh. Her feet were also replaced with white paws, the bottoms a light pink. She had a regular nose, sure, but little white whiskers twitched as she wriggled her nose. I smiled a little and sat up, seeing she had a white egg with two gold rings looping each other on it.

"Who're you?" I rubbed one blood-shot eye.

"I'm Willow," she laughed. "I'm a Guardian Character, or your wish!"

"So…you're my wish to…" I thought.

"To not be alone of course!" she flew up to hug my nose. "Don't worry, Onee-chan, I'll always be here for you!"

I laughed and hugged her in my hands, the egg on the ground. Something in me lit up that day and I picked up that egg and Willow flew into it, making sure to leave a decent crack to watch through. I held the egg and walked forward, remembering one skill my father taught me before he perished: how to handle a firearm. So that's how I got my present job. To be honest, it's a 'you choose' kind of thing.

**Mercenary or Sweeper, your pick.**


	2. Morning Encounters

**Please correct me if I am wrong:**

_**Okiru-Wake Up**_

_**Onee-Chan-Older Sister**_

_**Ohaiyou Gozaimasu-Good Morning**_

_**Kayu-Rice Porridge**_

_**Moushiwake arimasen-Formal way of saying **__**'I am sorry'**_

_**Yen-Japanese currency**_

_**Baka-Fool; stupid**_

_**Kun-The honorific for a male friend usually**_

_**Unn-Yep**_

_**Hai-Yes**_

_**Arigatou gozaimasu-Formal way of saying **__**'Thank You'**_

**Paper Flowers and Cat Whiskers**

_Two: Morning Encounters_

"Okiru, Onee-Chan! Okiru! Okiru!"

I yawn, stretching out my arms and slowly lifting my eyelids to the alarm clock. In glowing green letters, it has _8:12 A.M._ I rub my left green eye and use my right hand to push myself up to at least sit on my butt. Willow has a tiny note-book with a paw on it, blinking at me while sitting on nothing but the air in front of my nose. "Whaaat?" I whine. "Can't you see how early it is?"

"Yes," she yawns softly, stretching her arms back behind her fuzzy head, "but I can't stop the clock sadly. You have work, remember?"

_Oh yeah. I need a new job_. I scratch my cat ears like a cat would and swing my legs off the bed, the black tank slipping off my shoulders constantly. Willow shakes her long, white hair around a little, twitching her whiskers before flying up next to my face as I slid on a black-turtleneck with baggy sleeves over my purple head. "So, what's on today's 'To Do List'?"

Willow stares at the light-blue pages with stick-figure fish at the edges. "First is breakfast and then we move to finding a job. You'll try to get that done right away as usual and get paid. The rest is either sleeping or fish~"

I chuckle and pat her head with one finger, the other hand reaching down for my black-leather mini-jacket with a purple water-lily stitched onto the back. "What about fish, seeing we slept enough last week."

Willow flies laps around my head as I shrug on my jacket and slip on my black, baggy pants and black hiking-boots. No, I never really had that 'this goes _perfect_ with this' gene. That ALL went to Julia, whom of which I never got in contact with. I tuck my tail into the pants and hide my ears under a black cap with 'Suck Bullet' on it. Williow struggles to hand me the holster seeing she's only five inches. I pluck it away and check the caliber, muzzle pointed at the ceiling, to find it empty. I nod and set it back in the holster, grabbing some magazines and ammo boxes and storing them in my four pockets, walking out of the small apartment.

"Ah, Ohaiyou Gozaimasu!" the Apartment Complex manager waves as I walk casually to the door. "Trixie, could you help me unload some _Kayu_ ingredients?"

"Moushiwake arimasen, but I need to hurry down to the _Coffee Buck_ and check out Sweeper listings," I bow.

The manager (or Mr. Miyamoto) nods with his usual, cheery smile and walks back to behind his counter, opening his book and scribbling down some numbers. Willow clings to my cap as I shove out the glass doors, the sunlight temporarily blinding me. I hold my forearm over my eyes until my sight recovers from its slight daze. I finally set my arm down and calmly walk the thirteen minutes to _Coffee Buck_. Willow stares with curiosity as I enter, the steam of brewing coffee filling my nostrils. So I gag a little and step in completely, shutting the door. Bulky men are crowded around a bulletin board, most with scraggly beards or dressed up like 'hip gangsters' to look tough.

"Hello dear," the elderly woman waves. "I can see you're looking for a little something," she nods her head to the board.

I simply nod, slipping into a chair at the counter. I place three yen onto the counter. "Hot milk please."

Apparently, the men aren't used to people asking for hot milk because they all turn to face my shadowed expression. "Milk?" one snorts like a hog. "You know there's _coffee_."

"Yeah, I'm not a Baka," I snap. "I prefer milk to be entirely honest."

Willow sits on the back of my folded hands on the counter, playing with the long, black and purple nails. "Hmm," a man sits next to me, his back against the counter edge. "Well, _I _like milk to, just not the kind you're ordering…"

"I'd prefer if you don't sexually harass me," I state.

"Now, now, I'm just poking fun!" he hugs my shoulders.

"Three," I count. He laughs. "Two," I continue. His hand shifts down my back. "One…" He grabs my tail. "YE-OWW!" I jump up, holding my tail. I glare at him and kick him across the face. "RESPECT THE TAIL, JACKASS!"

"T-Tail?" someone mutters.

The guy falls to the ground and I pick him up by the scruff, tossing him out the window with one hand, sending him crashing into the street next to a man in a white suit, green hair brushed neatly down to his shoulders. He simply glances at the man before entering, cool and collected. His right hand is clutching a suitcase and his left hand is in his pocket. His hat is slanted to hide his face. Willow giggles mischievously. "Time for some fun~" she sings, flying over.

"Wait Baka!" I hiss.

"Baka?" the gentleman looks up.

Willow freezes as he catches her eye. "Crap…" she sighs.

"Uh…" he points to Willow. "What is _that?_"

Everyone else blinks. I grab Willow and scowl. "That's not important."

"Oh, so small, flying people aren't important?" he snaps. "I'm sorry, but that seems pretty odd to be seeing!"

"Hey Sven," the woman waves as she re-enters, setting down the milk in a clear glass. "How's Annette?"

"Good," he sits down on the seat next to mine.

I sigh and slump back onto the black leather, grabbing the milk and pouring half down my throat, setting it down and placing Willow on the edge. She beams and jumps in, swimming in the milk. After a few minutes when the glass becomes three-quarters completed, the group of men start up their chatter and the gentleman eyes me. "What?" I ask, not turning to meet his face.

"Who are you?"

I sigh and turn my head, dropping my hands onto the counter. I lift up my cap with my right hand and bow my head, the cat ears twitching. "Name's Trixie. If you need a mercenary or sweeper to help out," I replace the cap and point to my face with my right thumb, clicking my tongue, "it'd be me you want around."

He laughs. I mean he _laughs. _"What's so funny?" Willow grabs the glass edge, kicking her legs to get over it and falling butt-first onto the counter, soaked in milk. "Onee-Chan's serious."

"Y-Yeah," he pats my back harshly. "Okay. Got ya'."

I narrow my eyes and huff. "God Almighty. Is every damn person the same?"

I swallow up the rest of the milk, not minding the small white hairs, and slam it against the counter, stomping out. "Hey, now, it's not meant to be insulting!" he calls.

I roll my eyes. Willow beats my head with her note-book. "Onee! Chan! The! Job!"

"Oh we'll try it tomorrow!" I hiss, my nails digging into my palm.

We walk for twenty minutes arguing about whether I should go back and get a job. I eventually come to the point it's useless now seeing we're probably going to get more luck catching pigeons on a _roof_. Willow huffs and digs for her egg in my pocket, dragging it out and putting it in my hand. "Well, I'll get some 'Z's," she giggles. "See you next semester, Onee-Chan."

"What…WHAT SEMESTER? I DON'T GO TO SCHOOL!"

"Eh, she's stupid. What do you expect?"

Willow pops out, hugging the voice's nose. "Ikuto-kun!" She then points to me with a paw. "Onee-Chan's slacking!"

"I'm pissed," I point out. "I get the liability to slack for a day and stretch out my tail!"

In so, I drag out my tail. My friend, Ikuto Tsukiyomi, chuckles, sticking a hand in his midnight hair. "My," he smirks, "Trixie pissed. That's something I only _dreamed _of seeing."

"Oh shut up," I walk over, flicking his nose. "Anyways, where's Yoru?"

"Off doing whatever," he walks past me, jumping from this roof to the next with his hands casually in his pockets.

"Shouldn't you take better care of him?" I follow, hands at my sides. "I mean without him, you're just one of those boring people who don't look for anything in life."

"Oh?" he turns. "And you aren't?"

I blink and look down, rocking on my soles. "Oh shut up. I was starting out alone, remember?"

"Unn," he nods, "I remember. So, why don't you show me you're not by getting a job?"

I scowl as he smirks. "Oh go rape that kid you're always muttering about."

"Amu?" he chuckles.

"Hai."

He laughs, eyes shut and mouth wide. "I'll go do that actually. You just get a job," he prepares to jump onto the ground. "Wouldn't want you thrown onto the streets."

I roll my eyes as he jumps, Willow flying laps around my head once again. "Job, job, job~"

"Oh fine," I leap off the roof myself, landing on my feet and the tips of my fingers. "If it shuts the two of you up."

"Yay! Arigatou gozaimasu!"

So we track our way back as I think of ways to get Ikuto-Kun back. We find the door open. Willow yawns, so I pluck her in my fingers and tuck her in her egg, holding it for a second before tucking it safely in my pocket. I enter _Coffee Buck_ to see the same gentleman sitting there, a little card on the seat I was in saying 'Cat Woman'. On the other side of him is a twenty-three-year-old with honey-gold eyes, his hair light brown and wild. There's a bell tied around his neck and a tattoo of the Roman Numeral for '13' (XIII) below his left collar-bone. He has a blue jacket that only goes down to the end of his pectorals, the sleeves rolled up a little and ending at the middle forearm. Although I'm honestly not sure what those circles are…I have to guess meat saucers, as ridiculous as it is. His top is your basic white, long and what seems like a tank (I'm not a fashion-person as I have said) and black pants with a light-brown holster around his right thigh.

"Oh, there she is!" the gentleman points to me.

I blink and look behind me. Sadly, all that is on the street is tumble-weed, and even that passes by quickly. I look back and that guy I shoved out the window pops up. "Hey you!" he pokes my chest, my position still and unmoving as my expression is 'oh really?'. "What's with shoving me out the window?"

"You. Grabbed. My. Tail," I hiss. "Respect it, and that ugly face of yours might be able to cling to the humanism it has left," I shrug. I walk over to the chair and stick the card on the gentleman's hat. "Of course, you had to try and grope my junk, so now your face is completely and utterly that of a pig's ugly ass."

The guy with meat saucers on his jacket covers his mouth, shaking a little to show laughter. The gentlemen laughs as well. "Shut up!" the guy towers over me. "What made that big mouth on you? Huh?"

I smirk, removing my cap and twitching my ears. Everyone in the shop excluding the gentleman freezes. "I'm simply known for that," I chuckle. "Now, either stop bugging me, or I'm going to have to claw your pig-ass face off."

I raise my hands and Willow pokes her head out, gleaming. "Yay~ CHARACTER CHANGE!"

My nails lengthen and glisten with the reflection of the direct sunlight. A slight breeze rolls in due to the window and my hair stirs slightly. "Like I said," I set my hand down, Willow pouting and returning my claws.

The man blinks and takes three steps back, staring at me. I sit on the chair carefully, making sure I don't sit on my tail. "Heh, you're funny," the gentleman chuckles. I hear a loud grumble and the gentleman, meat-saucer-jacket, and I stare at his stomach. He laughs nervously and rubs the back of his head. "Okay, so I'm hungry. I'M ONLY HUMAN!" he collapses.

I laugh. "Oh don't sweat it. I'll get you something."

"Really?" he beams, right in front of my face.

The meat-saucer-jacket guy tugs the back of the gentleman's suit-jacket, making him sit down. "Sorry about him," he faces me. "He's like this."

I chuckle and shrug. "Eh, I don't mind." I stare at the counter, seeing my reflection. "I only really mind being alone, so…"

Willow scowls and starts peddling her legs to shimmy out of my pocket, flying onto the counter where my reflection's nose is. "Onee-Chan, I'm here!" she reminds, crossing her arms and pouting.

I turn to see the guy staring at her, chin on the counter and his eyes blinking. I chuckle. "Oh yes, I have to explain my 'sister' here," I sigh.

"That'd be nice," the gentleman stiffens. "But what do you say to explaining," he grabs his fork and knife, "a_fter _breakfast?"

Willow dead-pans and I laugh. "I guess we could make that work."


	3. My Bitterness Shows in My Work

**Please correct me if I'm wrong:**

_**Ochitsuite-Calm down**_

_**Moushiwake arimasen-Formal way of saying 'I'm sorry'**_

_**Sou desu ka-Is that right?**_

_**Hai-Yes**_

_**Iiyo-Okay**_

_**Yoi kakaku-Good price**_

_**Onee-chan-Older sister**_

_**Kun-The honorific for a male friend usually**_

_**Baka-stupid; fool**_

_**Neko-In the way Trixie says it, she means 'part human, part cat'**_

_**Kuso-Shit**_

_**Urusai-Shut up**_

**Paper Flowers and Cat Whiskers**

_Three: My Bitterness Shows in My Work_

"Wait, so those things come from your heart?" the gentleman pokes Willow in her small torso.

"HEY!" she claws at his finger. "Don't poke me!"

"Ochitsuite, Willow!" I close the egg shells over her. "Hehe, moushiwake arimasen. She doesn't react well to being poked by strangers…"

The gentleman is currently hiding behind Mr. Bell (it gets annoying saying 'guy' all the time, so it's time to mix it up). I laugh nervously, sweat coming down my forehead. "She's a _cat_," Mr. Meat-Saucer-Jacket sighs. "It's not like she's going to eat your face off."

"Maybe," Willow giggles mischievously from within the shells.

Yeah, it's hard to believe that she makes me feel less lonely for me too. I glance at the board and sigh. "Well," I stand, "I should get a job. 'Have to work to live', sou desu ka?"

"Hai," Mr. Thirteen nods. He presents a hand. "I'm Train. It was nice meeting you."

I smile and shake his hand. "I'm Trixie. It was nice meeting you to. Oh!" I dig in my pocket and put an origami flower in his hand, one petal having contact number, another having 'business hours' (times when I'm available), another having my name, and the last having my profession. "If you need me, just give me a call, iiyo?"

He blinks for a second before nodding. I walk over to the board and read the names and bounty of all seven posters.

**Haruto Kudo-$30,000**

**Chika Kikuchi-$25,000**

**Yuuna Yama-$42,000**

**Masami Kondo-$64,000**

**Ryuu Hidaka-$35,000**

**Katsu Koga-$50,000**

**Emi Fujiwara-$27,000**

I grab 'Katsu Koga's poster and start to walk out before a scrawny 'tough' whelp steps in front of me. "Hey, why didn't you get Masami Kondo?" he asks, his voice high-pitched and irritating. "She fetches a _yoi kakaku_."

I snicker. "I don't care for the good price on her head," I inform. I lift up the poster to his face. "This says 'Katsu', meaning 'victory'. I just want to see if that's true." I walk out, Willow's egg safely in my pocket.

Tedious hours pass and night falls. Willow is lying on my head, face buried in my hair. "I'm bored, Onee-chan!" she whines.

"Then go find Yoru-kun," I sigh, looking down in allies as I jump from roof to roof.

"By myself?" she squeaks, her little paws clutching patches of her hair.

"Well, yeah, I have a job to do," I remind as I skid on a roof. "Hello! I'm looking for a Mr. Koga!"

"That's not how you get a criminal to come out," Willow laughs nervously.

"It worked last time!"

"He was a sex offender! OF COURSE IT WORKED BAKA!"

There is a momentary silence before we burst out laughing. I bend down to hold my knees and wipe my eyes with the back of the jacket sleeve as I start to mellow down. "Yeah, I gu-YE-OWW!"

I hold my aching tail and turn to see someone with some of my tail fur. Ugh, how disrespectful of my neko-nature. The person, a bulky man with a black goatee and shaggy black hair with tints of gray, chuckles darkly and stands to his full height, which is maybe six feet and seven inches? If it is, he's a full foot taller than me, and I'm twenty! His gray T-shirt is torn, revealing rather unfortunate abs, and instead of a normal belt in the shredded black cargo pants, there's a weapon belt with five knives, ten shivs, and three scalpels, all of which rusty and covered in blood. _Kuso! _"Hehe, so you're after me?" he chuckles. "Well, I'm here."

"Well I can see where you get your name from," I gulp. "Willow?"

"Hai?" she squeaks.

"You might want to Character Change."

"Who are you talking to?" he laughs.

"CHARACTER CHANGE!" Willow panics.

The nails lengthen and my tail wriggles out. The hat falls as my ears stand straight up and I pounce, putting a decent tear in his weapon belt and yanking it off. That also results in his pants falling down to reveal boxers with hearts. "Dude, really?" I shake my head in disbelief. "My _grandma _wouldn't even wear those and she was blind, damn it."

"URUSAI!" he roars, charging for me and punching me in the nose.

I stagger and he takes the opportunity to grab his belt and stab my shoulder. I scream and grab my pistol, shooting his ear off. He rips the knife out and covers the spot it used to be with both as I cover the knife wound. _Kuso, kuso, kuso, kuso, kuso, you know what? SHIT, just SHIT. I don't care what language I say it, but just SHIT! _I take my hand away and aim, finger not yet on the trigger as my support hand's fingers (left) covers the right ones, not choking the handle of the gun. The guy charges once more, and I put my finger on the trigger, pulling it. The bullet goes into his neck, but he keeps going and pins me down. My finger, having ridden the trigger and not removed itself, is forced to pull again, shooting him in between the eyes. His brains spurt out the exit wound and he lands on top of me roughly, taking all air out of my lungs with him.

"How heavy is this guy?" I wheeze.

"Maybe four-hundred," Willow flies around. "Are you okay Onee-chan?"

"What do you think, Baka?" I snap. "I have a four-hundred guy on me that's d_ead_. God, he was supposed to live damn it!"

"Calm down Onee-chan!" Willow hides her face with her note-book. "It's just the bitterness talking!"

I sigh and take three deep breaths before trying to shove him off. I wince at the knife wound that managed to scrape the shoulder bone and lie down, limp. "Jeez…Do you think I'll still get paid?"

Willow sighs and wriggles the flier from out of my pocket. "Hmm…it says 'Alive for $50,000'."

"There's something on the back," I mumble, my vision blurring. "And please get someone to get this lug off of me before I die of blood loss."

I spit out some blood that came down into my mouth from the broken and bloody nose as she reads the back. "Huh, 'Dead for $75,000'."

"You see?" I start shredding him up. "Karma. I did something good and in return, God granted me extra money for the future hospital bill." Willow giggles and starts to pick at him as well when a door kicks open. She squeaks and shoots into her egg. I snap my head toward a door leading up to this roof as multiple members of the police force come up, armed. They stare at me. "Hello," I wave. "Uh, help?"

Two police men exchange looks and shove their pistols into their holsters and walk over, tugging the guy off and I am helped up by a third. "Huh, so a small lady like you killed Katsu, huh?"

I grow red. "What was that you sexist?"

"Calm down, miss," a fourth comes up, setting a hand on my good shoulder. "Hm. Looks like you've been banged up badly…Why don't you go home and leave the cleaning up to us?"

I roll my eyes. "Like I honestly care about who cleans this piece of crap up. I want my $75,000."

A hand offers me the large stack of bills. "Here," an elderly man with leathery skin and a fuzzy white mustache, bald on the head. "I appreciate the help."

I nod curtly and walk through the door and down the stairs, my ears twitching and my tail sore. "Is it okay that they saw?" Willow pops her head out of my pocket, blinking her big gold eyes up at me.

"That I'm part cat? I tell everyone who hires me that!" I remind.

The Apartment Complex isn't far, so I tiredly wave to Mr. Miyamoto and trudge upstairs to plop into bed, shrugging off the jacket and turtleneck. I kick off the hiking boots with the untied laces due to today's events and I lie down, staring at the ceiling as my legs dangle off the side of the bed and my arms are spread. "Is something wrong, Onee-Chan?" Willow sits on my forehead, looking at my eyes.

I nod slightly to not make her topple off. "Yeah…Who called the police?"

A chill fills the room and I shoot up, Willow flying off and cartwheeling in mid-air. I grab my pistol and face the window, panting, but it's closed, locked, and nobody is there. "Calm down Onee-chan!" Willow gasps, gaining her self-movement. "It's just sweat!"

I blink and stare at my limbs, drenched with it. "Oh…" I set the pistol back on the nightstand and lie in bed correctly. I pull the covers over my shoulders and wince at the un-tended wound. "Willow, could you get the bandages?"

She flies over with the roll and I walk into the bathroom to wash it out of all the dirt and grime and wrap it up, staring at the 'me' inside the mirror. I glare and sigh. Seriously, who called the police and what was that chill?


	4. Wilde Spade

**Please correct me if I'm wrong: **

_**Kun-The honorific for a male friend usually**_

_**Ishi-Stone**_

_**Ma-In the sense she's speaking, she means the girl is acting like a robot by saying it (complicated to explain to be honest)**_

_**Onee-chan-Older sister**_

_**Baka-Stupid; fool**_

_**Baka Ka-Stupid Asshole**_

_**Kusokurae-Eat shit**_

_**Aho-Dumbass**_

**Paper Flowers and Cat Whiskers**

_Four: Wilde Spade_

I spent the day after that in isolation, aiming my pistol at the window and nearly shooting Ikuto (damn, I missed…). Today, I'm walking to _Coffee Buck _with Willow and Yoru on my head. "Ah, it's warm-nya~" Yoru lays down on my head, arms spread.

"Yoru-kun~" Willow hugs him.

"ACK!"

I chuckle, making them feel my head vibrate, and I shove through the glass door with 'Help Wanted' on a tiny white sign. The elderly woman waves and sets a cup of warm milk on the counter as I sit, Willow and Yoru jumping in before I can drink some. I pout and peek at the board. There are seven posters in total, one with a huge question mark on it. I shrug it off and pluck the two hogs out of my milk, drinking it and plucking blue and white hairs off my tongue. The door opens again and Sven enters with Train, but they have a little blonde girl with them. "Oh hey Trixie," Sven waves. "We didn't see you here yesterday."

"Of course you didn't, she was too busy shooting her friends-nya," Yoru grumbles, licking milk off the back of his paw.

The girl blinks at me before her eyes narrow and harden like ishi (anyone else wondering why I'm speaking English one second and then I speak Japanese?). "You're not human," she states robotically.

I'm just picturing her walking around mechanically and saying 'ma, ma, ma, ma' constantly. I turn in my seat and lift up my hat, my ears twitching. "You are right," I say, placing it back. "I'm part cat, reasons really unknown…but eh, who cares?"

Willow starts hanging onto my black Tee shirt's back, the bottom of it tugging out of the jeans. Sven sits on my right and Train jumps into the seat at my left, the girl sitting at Sven's right, staring at me cautiously. "So, you're getting a job today?" Train wonders.

I open my mouth to answer, but the two cat characters just _have _to get first say. "Of course Onee-chan is getting a job!" Willow smacks his head with her little blue notebook.

"If she didn't, she wouldn't be able to pay for the future hospital bills that Ikuto-nya will have to get for her shooting him like a BAKA!" Yoru adds.

"BAKA KA!" I try to grab Yoru, resulting in falling off the chair and slamming onto the ground.

"Are you okay Onee-chan?-!" Willow tugs on a croppy purple strand.

I grumble out a few swears and Train and Sven help me up, the girl still staring. "Okay, I give, who's the creepy robot?" I sigh.

"Well, I wouldn't call her a _robot_," Sven sits down, looking at the menu. "Her name's Eve."

"Hello," Eve states.

Sven's stomach growls and I turn to Train, poking the circles. "What _are _those?" I ask, still poking.

"Meat patties," he smiles. "Neat idea, huh?"

I laugh nervously. _Yeah…in Baka-ville. _The door opens again and I turn to Ikuto. "Oh Trixie," he waves once. "Not shooting anyone?"

"THAT'S IT!" I grab Yoru and tackle Ikuto, trying to shove the character down his throat. "YOU TWO CAN KUSOKURAE!"

"Oh my…" Eve blinks.

Some of the people laugh and Ikuto eventually breaks free, spitting out blue hairs. "For the love of God, woman!" he huffs. "Stop trying to kill me, would ya'?"

"Who's the squirt?" Sven wonders.

"A friend of mine," I pat my jeans. "Okay, _that _out of the way…" I walk over to the board, Ikuto standing up and following.

**Ran Nishimura-$30,000**

**Masami Hisakawa-$40,000**

**Akira Shizuka-$25,000**

**Wilde Spade-$100,000**

**Michiko Minami-$42,000**

**Takuma Fukui-$81,000**

**Sachiko Yamada-$90,000**

I pluck the one with the question mark off, seeing it says 'Wilde Spade'. I mean is that supposed to be their name or is that just a crappy play on words? "That looks interesting," Ikuto reads over my shoulder. "You going for the curiosity or the price?"

"Now what do you think?" I flick his nose. The flyer is snatched from my fingers. "Hey!"

Train looks at it. "Huh. Seems interesting."

"Hey!" I swipe it away. "That's my bounty, Aho!"

"Hey, I'm not a dumbass!" he swipes it back.

"Yes, you are!" I grab it, tugging at it.

He tugs against my own force and we start pushing the other's face away when we catch Ikuto and Sven collecting bets. We sigh and look at the other before I grab my pistol and whip it across his face. "OW!"

"I'M GETTING THAT JUICY BOUNTY YOU DUMB ASS MOTHER FUCK!" I kick him in the stomach, making him crash into a table. Eve stands, and I aim my pistol at her. "Don't. Think. About. It."

She growls. "You're not going to win like that."

Two hands hold the top of the muzzle and I look on both sides to see Sven and Ikuto. "Cut it out, Trixie," Ikuto sighs. "Just go and get that bounty already."

I blink and turn to Sven, who nods. I sigh and holster the pistol, Yoru and Willow flying in front of my face. "Are you okay, Onee-chan?" Willow whimpers.

"Yeah." I walk in front of Train as he works on getting up and offer a hand. "Want some help?"

He blinks at the hand and smirks, taking it. Ikuto chuckles and I look back until I'm pulled to the ground and slam hard. "I won," Train teases and he gets up.

I growl and shoot up, pulling his pants down. "HA!"

"I didn't take you as a pervert," Train yanks his pants back up and kicks my face.

I grab his foot and push it away, making him fall back. The elderly woman chuckles. "Ah, young love."

"Trixie is incapable of feeling anything, let alone love," Ikuto sits down, Yoru sitting on his head.

"SHUT UP!" I hiss, chucking a wood chunk at his head. He ducks of course. "Lucky bastard…"

As Train and I squabble, Sven grabs the flyer. "Why don't you both work on this so you can learn to not slit each other's throats if we plan to see each other often."

I grab the flyer and run out the door. "He's going to have to keep up with me first~" I pocket my hat and my tail wriggles out of the jeans, my cat reflexes kicking in.

"ONEE-CHAN!" Willow whines as she flies with all her might.

"I'm not losing to you, tea-cup kitten!" Train chases me.

"Is that supposed to be insulting?" I jump into and alley and onto some boxes, grabbing a horizontal flag pole and swinging up to cling onto the edge of a roof.

"That's the general idea!" he fights to catch up.

I jump roofs as he follows. After some hours, Willow catches up and goes into my pocket, sticking her head out along with her fuzzy paws to observe as I kick his aho. I run into a pole eventually and blink off my astonishment. "Help…me…" I hear someone groan. "…Please…"

I raise a brow and Willow floats up, hiding her face behind the notebook. "S-Scary!" she whimpers.

I pat her head and Train comes up, panting. "Haha!" he points at me as I get up. "You ran into a pole! HA!"

"Shh!" I push my index finger to my lips. "Listen!"

"Help…me…" the voice repeats.

His smile vanishes and he grabs his pistol. I do the same as Willow flies ahead. I follow and she squeaks, shooting behind my head. I peek into an alley to see a twenty-nine-year-old man pinned to a wall by what looks like a spear. His wrists and ankles are pinned by 'Death cards' or Ace of Spades cards and there's one under him on the ground with something scrawled around it. "I'll get him down," Train hurries over. "Get the card."

I nod and scurry over to pick it up.

_**Hey Dumbasses.**_

_**I can't believe you'd think I'd stop after only eight! HA! Now I've killed nine, and you still think I'M the bad one. Well…**_

…_**Fuck you to.**_

_**S.W. or Wilde Spade**_

_**P.S-I saved a life, remember that.**_

I raise a brow. "Do you know anything about this Wilde Spade?" I ask Train as he manages to pull the spear out, the tip in the shape of a black spade.

"A little. She usually uses things with a spade somewhere on them. The cards pinning this guy," he plucks one out, "are actually thin blades formed to look like cards."

"Help…me…"

I jump and look at the guy, but I notice his mouth isn't moving. "What the…"

Train digs in the guy's jacket pocket and takes out a small, three-dimensional spade. He splits it in half and it shows it's a recorder. _"Help-__**Z-me**_," it sparks.

I look at the note and then at Willow, who's pale. "What?" I ask.

She swallows. "…He was about to get a character."


	5. Confrontation

**Paper Flowers and Cat Whiskers**

_Five: Confrontation _

I yawn as I sit at the desk in my apartment, flipping through files for the third time tonight. "Onee-chan, it's been a whole day since that," Willow sips hot chocolate from a doll-house tea cup.

"And? I'm a sweeper damn it!" I smack the desk with my fist. "I have to catch this bitch before she kills more people!"

Willow sighs and scratches her ears, yawning and showing little fangs in her mouth. "Well, while you go insane with lack of sleep, I'll be in my egg." She stand up and takes the cup with her over to her egg shells on a pillow on a stool, settling inside the bottom shell and closing the egg over her.

"Fine, go to sleep," I mumble. "I just don't get it…None of them have criminal records, enemies, they're all as pure as an angel's personality!" I spend a few more hours observing the files before I decide to get some sleep. I wake up the next morning, now two days from the murder, on the floor, my legs tangled in the blanket. "Oh fuck this…" I rip the blanket off, managing to make a huge tear in it. I grip the carpet with my hands and drag my body, lazy enough to not use my legs, over to the stool, tapping on Willow's white egg. "Yo! Oki-DAMN IT!"

"Eep!" the egg wobbles and crashes onto the ground, Willow somehow clinging to the edge of the stool. "What's wrong, Onee-chan?"

I ignore her and grip my hair, shaking my head while squishing my eyes shut. "THAT'S IT! I HAVE TO STOP NOT-TRANSLATING EVERYTHING!"

She looks at me like I'm a psychopath. "Uh…what?"

I freeze and sigh, my hands slipping from the strands. "Okay, you know how we're speaking Japanese right now?" She nods. "I tend to translate everything into English because of my parents' obsession with America, but lately I've been slipping and letting some Japanese words through, so I'm trying NOT to and refuse to keep slipping up!"

She blinks and grabs her foot-paws with her hand-paws (whatever you call them) and starts rocking back and forth. "That seems hard, especially if someone is talking fast."

I shrug and stand. "Eh, who cares?" She raises a little white paw. "Okay, one little midget, that's it."

"Hey!" she flies up, smacking my head with her tiny notebook. "Meanie Onee!"

"Hey! Hey! HEY! OW! ABUSIVE MIDGET!" I try to cover my head from that blood-thirsty notebook.

I crawl to the closet and shut the door before she can fly in, locking it. I huff and grab a crossed, purple top, having removed the black tank top I usually wear underneath my shirts. I pull on some XL jeans, even though it's too big for me, and hold it up with a white belt, slanting the top for whatever bored reason I can come up with. I slip my feet into my hiking boots and tie them up securely and grab my cap, setting them over my cat ears. I unlock the door and make a crack in the door to see Willow staring up at the door with teary, big eyes and a mouth sort of like this (~). I sigh and pat her head.

After a few minutes, I'm out the apartment complex doors with Willow on my cap, doodling fish in her tiny notebook. The sky has some gray clouds, the buildings are the same as ever, and the bleeding boy in the alley is the same as always. I-…

..Bleeding boy?

I stop short and take a step back to take a good scan of the boy. His hair is spiky and russet-colored (red-brown to be specific). His eyes are green and his skin is slightly tan. He's wearing a black and green school uniform. I run over and kneel in front of him. "Hey, what happened?" I demand. "Oh God you're really banged up…"

He looks up at me. "I don't know what happened! I was just walking to school when someone grabbed me and started stabbing me with something! I was lucky to get away…"

I notice the green-haired character hiding behind him, a yellow and white soccer uniform his choice of attire and a white sweatband on his head with a green star. "Shit…" I mutter. "Did you manage to get a good look at what they stabbed you with?"

He tilted his head this way and that. "I got something, but I'm not sure it's what she stabbed me with."

"She?" I ask.

"Well, it was sort of obvious. I think she was nineteen." He takes out a black spade card. "I know it seems ridiculous, but that's what I got…"

_Wilde Spade…Is she killing people with or getting characters?_ I help him up and support him. "Well, I know I should get you to a hospital, but the woman at the _Coffee Buck_ used to be a nurse. It'd be easier than having to pay a lot of hospital bills."

He nods and the character flies up to my face. Willow snickers and I notice she was hiding behind my neck; sneaky little cat. She darts out and tackles the poor thing. "BOO!"

"AH!" the character darts to the boy. "What the heck?"

"Oh, that's my character Willow," I explain as we slowly walk out of the alley. "I'm Trixie. You two?"

"I'm Kukai," the boy smiles weakly. "This is my character, Daichi."

I nod with a smile and he's nodding off when we get to the coffee shop. The old woman glances up and drops a rag and a glass at the sight of Kukai. "Oh my…what happened?" she rushes out from behind the counter.

"Wilde Spade," I answer, letting her take him over to a stool and check his wounds. "She tried to kill him, but he escaped."

_I guess because of his character._ "Well, I'll patch him up," she leads him to the back.

"Thanks!" I call after her.

Willow flies to the front of my face. "Onee-chan, do you think-"

"-That everyone had a character or was getting one? Yes," I interrupt. "This chick is a psychopath, so I don't think we should be prideful and do this by ourselves."

Her eyes narrow. "_We_? What do you mean _'we'_? _You're _the one who does all the jobs, Onee-chan!"

I raise a purple eyebrow. "Uh, just four days ago, you used a Character Change with me to bring down Katsu Koga!" I argue.

Her eyes return to their normal, midget-stomach size and she tilts her head to the left, her nose and whiskers twitching. "That counts?"

I roll my eyes and flick her nose, making her yelp and hold it with her fuzzy paws. "Yeah, that counts Willow."

I wait on a stool for the kid to come out. I tap my fingers impatiently on the counter and grab the files that I took with me. I scan through them and notice that the fact all of them were _good_ is actually the string. It's not like criminals are going to get characters; it's highly unlikely they believe in themselves anymore. Willow sits on the counter, the pad in her paws. "So, anything?" she asks.

I tap the files and smirk. "She's after the characters. Look at the files." I turn the folder I keep them in to her and she scans them. "They all had spears in their chest and the autopsies show that the heart was punctured in each kill." Oh yeah, I didn't tell you that? Well, you can understand I was more focused on the _why_, right? "…Oh great. I'm talking to myself."

"That's what you get for lack of sleep," Willow shrugs. "Onee-chan, by the looks of things, Train would be the best option."

"Yeah, I guess. The bastard might be cocky, but he has a gun, Ikuto just has the male-stripper outfit and the claws."

"Who has the stripper outfit?" a voice mocks behind me. I raise a brow and turn to Train. "Your friend? Awfully young to be stripping, isn't he?"

"He's seventeen," I point out. "And while you were sticking new meat patties on your jacket, I found out why Wilde Spade is attacking people."

"MOST OF IT," Willow points out. "Why would she be targeting them? We're forgetting that."

I think and pat her head. "Yeah, thanks Willow!"

She smiles with pride and Train sits next to me, sliding the files in front of him. "Hmm. All had their hearts stabbed, ages varied, and no criminal records known. How can you figure it out from this crap?"

"Easy," I smirk. I tap the crown of Willow's skull. "I have Willow. Now, she attempted to kill a tenth; a young boy named Kukai. He has a character named Daichi. Now the person from two days ago, if I'm using the reference to the time correctly, was about to get a character. Willow probably sensed the remains of the character once it died with its owner."

He glances at Willow, then back at me. "So you're saying this 'Wilde Spade' is killing these people because of little midgets?"

Willow bites his hand, which he jumps up at, covering the bite mark. "We're not midgets!" she flails her arms angrily, eyes squeezed shut. "You and Onee-chan are meanies!"

"Well this 'meanie' lets you swim in her damn milk every time she gets a glass, so maybe she should stop that," I coax.

Suddenly she's sparkling and sitting on the back of my hand, her little hand-paws in between her spread out knees and long-haired tail swaying. "Who said you were a meanie, Onee-chan?" she asks with closed eyes innocently.

I chuckle at pat her head with the other hand. The woman comes out with Kukai, all patched up. "Here he is," the woman sits him in the stool next to mine.

Kukai smiles at me. "Thanks for helping me, Trixie!"

"Don't mention it, kid," I ruffle his hair. "Train," I turn to the dick-head in mention, "this is Kukai."

Train waves to Kukai. "Nice to meet you. That must be Daichi," he points to Kukai's character.

Kukai nods. "So you can see them to, huh? Well, I know very few adults with characters."

"Actually, I don't have one," Train shrugs. "I just see them."

"So can Sven," I point out, "and Eve. So you're not that special."

Train's left eye twitches as the woman sets a glass of milk in front of me. "If you don't know," she smiles, "I'm Suki Kohua."

I nod and she walks off. Willow flies to the edge of the glass and does a cannonball into the milk, her head popping out to the surface and her tongue licking up the milk in its range. "Hey, your character reminds me of someone else's," Kukai points out.

"Does it now," I pick Willow out, drinking some of the milk for myself.

"Yeah."

Train stands. "Well, enough chatter. Trixie, let's go catch this crook."

I nod and gulp the rest of the milk down, Willow pouting. I stand and pat Kukai's head. "Stay low until we snag this bitch, 'Kay kid?" He nods and I walk out the door with Train.

So after a few hours of constant searching, we get nothing. Willow is in her egg, located in the depths of something I like to call 'my right pocket'. I yawn and stretch out my back, the back of my jeans bulging with the extending of my tail. The cap lifts up as my ears stiffen and I push it back down, looking down from the roof I stand upon. The streets are silent and cold, a slight breeze trailing goose-bumps on my arms. I can see Train a few roofs due North (in front of me, duh) and wave to him. He waves in acknowledgement and leaps onto another roof. I walk over to the left of the roof and step onto the rail, pushing off and flipping into the air to land perfectly on the next roof.

"Now if I was a psychotic bitch, where would I hide?" I mumble to myself. I pinch my chin with the side of my right index finger and the right thumb, stuck in thought.

Time passes as I'm stuck, standing there like fresh bait. "Isn't there some sweeper technique called 'lure'?" a voice asks, obviously bored.

I take it I'm going insane and this is my 'inner voice'. "Oh yeah!" I snap my fingers. "Maybe I'll run around screaming 'I have a character and you shall not slay me demon!'. I mean seriously, does that_ sound_ like a good idea?"

"It's better than the shitty job you're doing now."

"Wow," I blink, dropping my right arm. "I'm harsh to myself."

The voice laughs and the roof starts to quake. _What the Hell…_"That's so cute of you," the voice purrs. "But to be quite honest, it's sad when someone older than me is also _dumber_."

I feel the heat underneath the flesh of my face. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE-"I turn. The roof collapses, and I say it is obviously a planned collapse, for it is silent. I crash into the bars of something and a figure drops. They land on the ground and stand to their full height, any possible light showing their face.

It's a girl, nineteen in height and facial features. Her hair is dark brown and has two braids, the rest of it flowing down her back. Her bright green eyes seem dull, for whatever reason. Her skin is pale (not quite snow-white yet) and stretched over a five-foot-and-seven-inch skeleton. Everything from her torso to her knees is wrapped inside a blue dress with ruffles in vertical lines. White ballerina flats hold her feet and a white belt holds her waist. She has a white plastic bracelet on her left wrist and the sleeves of her dress are nothing but thick straps. Her nose is pointed, yet close to her face, and her lips extrude slightly, gleaming with lip gloss.

She holds up her right hand to show a spade-shaped button in her long fingers. She smirks and presses down on it, making the bars under me vanish and causing me to slam into the ground. She pushes it again to make the bars extract again, trapping me in a cage. "I apologize for the rather…forcefulness…but I just_ had _to meet _the_ Trixie."

Note this: she might look nineteen, she might be nineteen, but that doesn't stop her voice from being high-pitched. Smooth, but the high-pitch makes my skin want to jump off, eat her alive, and jump back on me. I mean UGH. I sit up, one leg straight out and the opposite leg folded up. I face the right, where she stands. "Let me guess, got hold of one of my flowers?"

She holds up one of the origami flowers I use as substitute to business cards. "Why, yes, I do in fact. Where are my manners?"

"In Hell?"

She giggles. "I am Sumiko, or 'thinking child', Wilde, or 'Wilde Spade'."

I nod my head slowly. "Okay, so can you explain my aching back and nine dead people, if you will?"

"Aw, but I want to get to know _you_ better," she starts walking around the cage. "After all, we're not so different, you and I."

"How so?"

"Well, we're both different," she points out. "I'm one of those smarter people who graduated college at seventeen, yet most people think that's…_off_, so to speak. You are part _cat_, which definitely strikes people as odd."

"That's not exactly the same thing," I smirk. "Unless if you have a tail, cat ears, and a craving for tuna often."

She laughs and folds her arms behind her back. "Well, anything you'd like to tell me?"

"Not really," I push myself up to stand. "I would actually want to know why you started killing people, and why the heck everything has a spade on it. I-I-I mean who's that for?"

She sighs. "Alright, I'll start. It's not like anyone will come anytime soon, the direction Black Cat is headed."

"Black Cat?" I blink. I shake my head. "Never mind, just start talking, squeaky."

She blinks and rolls her eyes. "Alright, alright, don't sit on your tail." She walks further away from the cage to lean against some counter of sorts. Can't really see it well, it's too dark (odd with the collapsed roof). "I never really had parents, you see," she explains. "Gave me up because they couldn't afford me. I lived in an orphanage for _ten years_ before I was taken in. Yet again, they only took me in because of my brain. I was already at the ninth-grade-level, you see. So, I lived there. Respectable people, sure, but I never really felt at home. Once I left for collage at fifteen-yes fifteen; don't look so damn stunned-, I was just about ready to just give up trying to be the best. Then…I had a friend, who told me I should move up, fulfill my dreams and not throw them away like some five-year-old."

I blink. "Uh…did this 'friend' come in egg-format?"

She blinks before narrowing her eyes up at me. "Yes."

I sigh and pick out Willow's egg, the cat character hatching and yawning. "What time is it?" she whines, rubbing one golden eye. She scans my expression and slumps with somewhat gloom. "Why are you looking at me like I'm stupid? I don't have a clock in my egg, Onee-chan."

I point to the psychopath behind her and she turns. "Greetings," Sumiko waves one hand once.

"EEP!" Willow darts behind me. "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"

I sigh, sweat dripping down my face. "Willow, you're _SO_ confident."

Sumiko stomps to the cage, grabbing one of the bars with her right hand. "Alright, so I had a character. She was my wish to be smart, to create my own thing! She was the cutest thing! Black hair in a tiny ponytail with a spade clip, a black dress, white stockings with spades, a tiny spade on her cheek, gray eyes…Her name was Spade. I had her for three years, but then I started inventing…THIS USELESS CRAP!" she kicks a box of something, spade-recorders flying out. She's panting heavily, face shading itself red. "She disappeared and I looked everywhere! SHE'S GONE!"

I blink and look at Willow, who shrugs. "Wait…so you're _killing_ people…because…"

"You didn't read that note, did you? I call the police for you, and you don't read my note!"

"_You_ called the police?" I gasp.

"Of course, you're my 'hero'."

I blink. "Ah…Well, I read your note. What did you mean by 'saved a life'?"

She laughs. "The disappearance of Spade ruined my life, so I'm saving those people from having to suffer like I did! I'm not the bad one!"

My jaw drops and Willow clings to my cap. "She's crazy!"

"That's insane!" I shout. "You can't just kill everyone with a character! Everyone has them deep inside!"

"But not all of them hatch," Sumiko points out. "I just plan to kill those with characters, or about to get them…but you though, I like you." She holds a hand through the bars. "Help me. Save all of them from suffering."

_And I thought X-Eggs were bad…_I shake my head and whip out my pistol, aiming in between her eyes. "Never! I'm not going to kill people for that! I might be a part-time mercenary, but I'm still a sweeper, and I'm placing you under arrest!"

She sighs and takes her hand back. "So sad…Well, bye~"

Something is pressed and gears start turning. I at the ground to see it cracking, and at the left and right to big walls slowly pushing towards the cage, spade-shaped spikes the threat here. I gulp and holster the pistol, searching the bars for an exit. "Onee-chan! Character Change!" Willow shrieks, the claws forming.

I claw at the bars, but just merely scratch them. "Ugh…How do I…"

Sumiko starts to walk off, exiting through a door. "I hope we meet again…**in Hell**," she cackles, slamming the door shut.

"I'll get help Onee-chan!" Willow darts up through the ceiling.

"Hurry!" I add as the walls start to gain speed. I continue to scratch at the bars and grit my teeth. _Damn…the walls are getting closer…Why do I have to have the fucking cliché death? HUH? _I kick the bars and scratch, kick, scratch, kick, and continue. "SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! KUSO! SHIT! Ah DAMN IT! In death I backfire on my promise!"

The walls are finally fast and start to squish the bars. "Man, I didn't know you're this much trouble!" I hear Train chuckle.

"Oh trust me, this is the average Tuesday for her!"

I gasp. "Ikuto? GET OUT OF HERE!"

The top bars bend up and the walls are near me. I jump up and grab the top bars, slipping through and Ikuto dropping next to me. He is in his Character Transformation: Black Lynx. He lifts me up by the waist and jumps up through the ceiling. Train shoots at something and the bullet ricochets off the walls and eventually breaks a gear. I don't personally see it, but I can hear the groans of the walls as they struggle to finally close together. Ikuto lands on a part of the roof that's still intact and smirks at me. "Never thought you'd need help," he admits.

"Oh shut up," I push him away, landing on my own feet. "…And thanks you two."

"Eh, it was nothing," Train gloats, spinning his pistol. "So, where did your captor run off to?"

"_Wilde Spade_ ran off," I sigh. "But I know her name, appearance, reasons, and that she's intelligent."

Willow pops up from behind one of Ikuto's cat ears. "Onee-chan, I got help~" she sings.

I chuckle and pat her head. "You sure did. Thanks."

I've learned some things. One, when you're near death, it goes by fast. Two, Sumiko is a crazy bitch. Three…Ikuto and everyone else with a character is in danger…including me.


	6. Arrest

**Paper Flowers and Cat Whiskers**

_Six: Arrest_

"MEEP!" Willow yanks on a strand of my hair. "MEEP! MEEP! MEEP! MEEP! MEE-**OW!**"

"That's what you get for trying to wake me up so damn early…" I glare.

It's not really the fact that I'm mad at her or me for that matter. To be honest, _you _try catching some psychopath that has a whole fucked up idea on how Guardian Characters work. My body sits up unconsciously, but I'm awake enough to rub the fatigue out of my bloodshot eyes. Two days I've been up for all twenty-four hours, and now I've slept my five. The phone rings, so I snatch it up. It's Ikuto. "Yolo?" I yawn.

"Oh don't you start," he snaps. I bet his little high school buddies use that term all the time to piss him off. "Anyway, Soko asked Utau to ask me if you wanted to hang out with her today. She's been hearing from all over that you're stretching yourself over the limit."

My lips spread into a frown. "I don't _have_ limits. If I need to catch someone, I catch them, no matter whom it is and what it costs."

"EVEN THOUGH THAT'S THE ONE OF MANY DUMB THINGS ONEE-CHAN DOES!" Willow screams into the speaker. I growl and she freezes, turning slowly with gloom lines streaming down the side of her head. "Hehe…O-Onee-chan?"

**BONK!**

"OWIE!" she complains, rubbing the big lump my handy dictionary caused (worth the 2,398 yen).

"And that's what you get for insulting you're older sister," I drop the book noisily onto the nightstand. "Tell Soko I'll come over and we'll discuss plans there. Also…" I laugh darkly. _**"Call her 'Mom' you dope."**_

There's silence for a few seconds, as if he's rolling his eyes behind the phone to restrain from insulting my censorship. "'Dope' is the best you have, Trixie?"

"I could call you numb fuck if you prefer."

Again, more silence, but this is more of an awkward one than a 'she's an idiot' one. "…Okay…See you later, hopefully."

I nod and hang up. I hop up out of bed, but once again forget I like to wrap my legs in the blanket. Eh, force of habit I guess. The side of my face takes most of the impact of the hard floor. My arms push my upper body up, my right eye twitching. "Damn it…"

"Okay~" Willow sings. "Up, up, Oneeeeee-chan!"

"YOU ARE NOT THE ALARM CLOCK," I groan.

She giggles, her little tail going side to side in innocence. Way too tired, I crawl into the closet and start slipping on random articles of clothing. One is a white tank top. Another would be the black, baggy pants with a studded belt to top it. My shoes are the per-usual hiking boots. "Aw, it looks like there's blood on your boots, Onee-chan!" Willow stares at the sores worriedly.

I shrug and lace them up to the brink, sliding the cuffs of the pants over them. I place my 'SUCK BULLET' cap backwards this time and grab a silver cross with a crown crossing the middle diagonally to put on my neck. After finding several string bracelets and brass knuckles, I shove my hands in my pockets and walk out, kicking the door open and closed. Mr. Miyamoto scribbles in his little money book as I walk by, not paying me any mind. Again, I kick the door open and closed, just with a little less force seeing I do not feel like getting a leg full of glass.

Being a sweeper has advantages. One is the fact that you memorize a lot of the towns you stay in often. So I know that the trip for me to go to the Tsukiyomi residence will take me approximately an hour and ten minutes. Hey, at least I get my day's-worth of exercise! Willow grabs her egg out of my pocket and digs through its contents, taking out a timer and starting it, also clipping a calorie counter on my hip. She must be tired, seeing she usually just counts it. That or very, severely ill. I gasp and start bawling, hugging Willow. "OH NO YOU'RE DYING AREN'T YOU?_!_" I wail.

"ACK! O-ONEE-CHAN!" she whines.

"Is your life goal to kill Willow?" a small voice wonders. I turn to Eve. "Hello."

"Hey Eve," I let go of Willow. "What're you doin' out?"

"Well, I was walking around before I saw you suffocating Willow. I thought I would offer some assistance to her," she informs.

I roll my eyes and hold up a thumb. "Good luck on that, kiddo. Now if you excuse me, I am off to the Tsukiyomi residence!"

"Tsukiyomi?" she asks.

I freeze and slump. "That boy I'm friends with."

She nods once. "May I come along?" she wonders.

"Eh, sure. Soko's always one for making new friends."

With that, we walk to the house together. Unfortunately there are black cars in front of the settlement, making my teeth grind. "What are those for?" Eve points to the cars.

"Nothing," I lie. "Just avoid them."

I push the gate open and step to the side, letting Eve past. The gate slams shut with enough force, the soiled soles of my boots stomping up to the door. My fist knocks on the door roughly, making the door itself shudder from the immense force. It opens up to a person I did not want to see. "…Oh it's _you_," Ikuto's step-father, Kazuomi Hoshina, snaps. "Let me guess, you're here to see Ikuto?"

"False, per usual," I growl. "Soko! You there?"

Soko Tsukiyomi steps up behind him, smiling gently. "Hello Trixie. Shall we step out?" I nod once and she steps past Kazuomi, bowing her head once before leading me away from the place. "So, it's been so long since we've had a little day out!" she giggles.

I blink before smiling softly. "Yeah, I guess…Oh yeah!" I snap my fingers. My fingers then direct their tips towards Eve. "This is Eve. She's a friend of mine."

Soko waves. "Hello Eve. I'm Soko Tsukiyomi."

Eve bows her head in a polite manner. "It is nice to meet you, Soko."

Soko giggles and whispers to me, "Such a sophisticated girl! You have such nice friends, Trixie."

I feel the sweat building on my brow, my expression frozen to 'are you forgetting something'. "Y-Yeah…"

Soko blinks, confused. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she wonders.

Lips part to answer, but they close instantly. Seeing Soko upset is not something that I want to do in my years of life, okay? I am genuinely afraid of the consequence. "It's nothing," I wave it off. "So, where we going Soko?"

"I was thinking maybe that café around the corner from there?" Soko asks more than states, pointing to a 'Yeild' sign across the street.

I shrug and look down at Eve. "What do you think?" She nods blankly in approval. "Okay, it's settled. Let's go!" I point up to the sky and take a step on the cross-walk, the sign across showing the green person, but some jack ass nearly runs me over. "HEY I'M WALKIN' HERE!"

"THEN WALK FASTER!" he calls out his open window, blaring the horn next to me.

I flip him off and stomp the rest of the way, grumbling about this and that and how his nuts should be chopped off for the disrespect. I mean come on! I am a twenty-year-old bitch with pistol skills, not a juvenile delinquent who can't keep her piss in her bladder. Soko and Eve catch up, Soko stuttering out stuff like 'calm down' and 'he's probably just tired'. WELL I GOT FIVE HOURS OF SLEEP AFTER FOURTY-EIGHT HOURS OF TRACKING! LOOK WHO'S TIRED! I kick the door open and stomp in, the waitress sighing and just handing me a menu as I walk by. "Hello Soko…_Trixie,_" she snorts.

Okay, she's your average brat in my opinion; sixteen, yellow-blonde, tan, narrow brown eyes, thin waist, and a nasal tone. Worst part is I've known her since she was twelve. Man wasn't _that_ a pleasure. I scoff and skim the menu. "Not…" I whisper under my breath.

Eve sits next to me in a small booth for four, Soko sitting on the other side so we do not have to turn our heads to talk. "Is this place any good?" Eve asks, accepting a menu from my hands.

"Indeed," Soko opinionates. "Trixie and I have been going to this place for years now and we never get tired of it!"

"Seven years to be more specific," I yawn, setting the menu down and scroll through pictures on my phone.

Willow starts fiddling with it next, trying to take a picture of herself. When she fails and gets a picture of her eye, she whines at me to take a good one. I snap a quick one of her balancing on the salt shaker with one paw (won't be using that) and save it as 'the thing to shut Willow up'. I get salt on the head for that. "Oh dear, you have salt on your head," Soko reaches over to swipe it off the purple crown.

"Gee, I wonder why," Eve blinks at Willow.

Willow giggles and sits on Eve's blonde head, playing with the black bow holding up Eve's ponytail. "Bow! Bow!" she squeals.

The same waitress, Mimi Escapade, struts up and drags out a notepad, clicking a ballpoint pen. "Welcome yet again," she yawns. She cringes when someone enters, making a bell jingle. "Would you like to start with some drinks?"

"Dr. Pepper," I order.

"Water," Eve says.

"Do you have lemonade this time?" Soko wonders. Mimi nods. "Then I'll have some lemonade, please."

She nods and goes to get the drinks. "So, how do you two know each other?" Eve asks once Mimi disappears into the back.

Soko's eyes close as her smile widens. "Oh, Ikuto brought her to meet me," she tells Eve. "I saw he was so excited to have a little friend, I remember that!"

"Soko…" I slump, right eye twitching. "I'm taller than _you_ and you're calling me little?" Sure it is by two inches, but what can ya' do?

"Is that the point here?" Soko laughs. "I'm just expressing my gratitude that you came into Ikuto's life. He's been so happy to have you as a friend."

I blink and smile, feeling a bit up lifted, despite the drag down of not being able to catch Wilde Spade. "Well, be careful. Gratitude can kill!" We laugh.

Eve, for one, blinks. "…I do not get it."

"Oh, it was something long ago," Soko waves it off, laughing a little. "Ikuto was hugging her so tightly out of gratitude that she was turning as purple as her hair!"

"Hey, what are you-ARUGH!"

We jump and turn just in time to see some guy being catapulted into our table, making splinters fly. I turn away from the hurting man to gasp. "Well, well," Sumiko grins. "My _gratitude _to you for conveniently being here!"

_One, you probably stalked me. Two, you are using it wrong. And you went to college at seventeen! _I growl and pounce onto the leather, jumping onto the top of the seat and lunge forward to tackle Sumiko. She grunts as we collide and shoves something spade shaped in my face. A bright, white flash blinds me as I roar in pain. She kicks me off to use the advantage. As all I can see are blurs, my fighting is pretty crappy for a bit, her cutting me with spades and what not.

"Onee-chan! Pistol at six o' clock!" Willow calls.

"Nuisance!" Sumiko growls.

"YOU BETTER NOT!" I kick in the direction of her voice, hearing a nasty crack afterwards. I jump backwards and reach down, feeling for the cool grip of the gun. I feel it brush against my fingers and grab it.

"Out of the way," I hear Eve say, a gust of wind brushing past me.

I'm tugged down, someone rubbing my eyes with some cloth. "T-Trixie! Tell me you can see me!" I hear Soko panic.

I blink a few times until I can vaguely make out a napkin. "Nope, only a blurry napkin."

"Oh boy!" she grumbles.

A heavy slap rings and Eve is knocked into me. "Do not mess around with me!" a drill of sorts makes my teeth ache. "I will kill all with characters, and those getting characters! I WILL DO THE PEOPLE THAT JUSTICE!"

There is silence. "What?" Soko gasps in confusion.

"Long, _super__** duper**_ complicated story," I sigh, blinking my eyes a little more before standing, pouncing onto Sumiko and scratching her like crazy. She yells and kicks my abdomen, making me wince and stumble back. Her hand grabs a spear of sorts and her legs push forward.

A pain in my stomach shoots up my throat and comes out in a trickle of blood down my chin.

"TRIXIE!"

I cough and fight to yank it out, glaring at Sumiko. "R-rela-AX!" I stumble with words. "It's just a flesh wound."

"DO NOT MONTHY PYTHON ME AT THIS TIME!" she scolds.

British comedy thing that I watched when I was a kid. Look it up. I roll my eyes and raise the butt of the gun, slamming it across Sumiko's face. She is jerked off the spear, allowing me to drag it out and throw the bloody thing to the floor. I charge again, warm liquid flowing down my stomach to my legs. She is just recovering when I round-house kick the side of her face, making her face slam into a table and splinter it slightly. Her head jerks up and turns to me.

"ENOUGH!" she throws a spade at me.

I duck to dodge, aiming my pistol at her. I gasp when I see a faint light. "What is that!" Eve grunts, recovering from her daze.

"Onee-chan!" Willow calls from above a lamp. "Spade can be saved! It will calm Sumiko down!"

"Ugh, SHUT UP!" Sumiko chucks spades at the lamp, making it shatter as Willow darts across the ceiling. "SHE IS GONE! **SHE CAN NOT COME BACK!"**

A dark aura starts to choke the room. I wrinkle my nose as the metallic stench hits my senses. _If that's true, I have to do this quickly! _"Willow!" I run towards her.

"Yes!" she nods. She floats to my pocket and wriggles into the egg, flying into my chest. _"Character Transformation!"_

A white light surrounds me and someone enters through the door. "What the Hell is going-" I hear Sven start.

My white light gives off a tiny explosion as my hair lengthens to my mid-back and my claws sharpen. My tail pops out and one of my eyes shades itself into gold. My clothes melt into a white tank top and gold shorts, white combat boots with gold laces to match. "WILLOW TREE!" I call, grabbing the pistol and making light wrap around it.

Okay, about the name…

ASK.

THE.

FUCKING.

GENIUS.

CALLED.

THE.

CHARA.

NAMER.

THINGY.

If that makes sense that is. Anyways, the light wraps around it and sneaks into the chamber. "What the…" Sven blinks.

"DUCK!" Eve knocks him down.

"OUCH! Hey, what the-"

"**DIE!"** Sumiko charges forward, holding the spade high above her head with both hands. Stupid idiot, leaving her torso wide open like that. I pull the trigger, a bullet drowned in light, or my energy to be precise, digging into her heart. She freezes and drops the spade, slowly looking down at her chest. No wound is shown. Instead, a white egg exits, a little gold heart with wings at the front. It shades itself to have a pattern of spades all over it. "…Spade…" she blinks. The egg drops and she catches it. Willow pops out of me and the character transformation is cancelled. "…How…"

"Willow is my wish to never…" I cough up some blood. "…Be…alone…" I fall backwards.

"Ah!" Sven yelps. "Trixie! Eve, call a hospital!"

"On it!" she runs to the nearest phone.

Soko leaves the booth and runs to me. "You're going to be alright honey, trust me!" she comforts.

I smile and pat her head. "Don't treat me like…your daughter," I chuckle a little weakly. "That's what Utau…is fo-OR!"

I wince and cover the wound with my hand. The blood is pulsing out of that wound, lemme tell you! After a few minutes of Sven trying to patch me up, I hear sirens. Good thing there's a hospital nearby, huh? Of course, it's gonna take them two more minutes to actually _get here_. During that time, police sirens clash with the ambulance ones and Sumiko sits on a booth, staring at her egg. She glances at me, eyes slightly filled with tears. "…I…"

"Yes," I nod. "You get to see your character hatch again _in jail._" Eve cuffs her from behind, making her jump and nearly break Spade. "Sumiko Wilde, you are under arrest for the murder of nine innocents, the attempted murder of two more, and basically homicide in general."

Wow, professional arrest speech, huh?


	7. Hospital Bed

**Paper Flowers and Cat Whiskers**

_Seven: Hospital Bed_

The machines beep annoyingly. The birds outside the window chirp endlessly. The nurses in the halls talk constantly. Well, it _is_ part of their jobs, granted, but that does not mean it is not annoying, never the less. The visitors in nearby rooms yap excessively. The televisions roar obnoxiously. Seriously, and Barney told me hospitals helped people.

**BARNEY.**

**FUCKING.**

**LIED.**

Of course, that's just the anesthetics talking. I guess you could also blame the penicillin and other miscellaneous drugs they have me doped on. I mean it was only a spade spear through the rib cage! Give me a break! I glare at the IV inserted in my right elbow crook, tugging at it to produce pain. Hey, better than sitting in a white room doing nothing but going insane, right? Willow sits on the lump in the blanket, that of which is my right kneecap, and hums 'There You Go' by that American singer 'P!nk'.

"Onee~Chan!" Willow stretches her arms up and backwards. "When are you getting out?"

I shrug and lean forward to grab the clipboard in front of my bed. It takes a few twisting and turning, what with the multiple tubes and wires in my body, but it pays off when the cheap slate of wood is in my fingers. "Let's see…I'm here for observation and treatment of…something called a 'Pancreas'…and a few of my lower ribs."

"Wha! Really?" Willow whines. "Isn't the Pancreas really important, Onee-chan?"

"Meh," I toss the clipboard to the floor, twisting and turning to return to my relaxed position. "I don't-ah!-know, in all hones-aha!-ty! Grk! I swear these tubes are-OW!"

"'Ow' is not a suitable adjective for 'tubes'. Something like 'painful' or 'harmful' is better." I turn to Eve, standing in the doorway with a bag in her hands. "Hello."

I huff and lean back over the pillow, hands folded over my stomach. "Hey," I yawn. "What's in the bag?"

She sets it on my left knee, as to be considerate of Willow. "Ramen," she states blankly.

My right eye twitches slightly. _"What the Hell am I supposed to do with Ramen when I'm in a hospital bed?_!"

She rolls her pink eyes and takes out a Styrofoam box. "Not 'Instant Ramen', baka." Ugh, what did I say about me not-translating some words? GET IT TOGETHER TRIXIE!…And just like that I'm insane.

"Uh…Thanks I guess," I accept the box from her, opening it up to see a plastic fork placed inside. "Mmm, smells delish!"

"Willow wants some, Onee-chan!" Willow runs up my leg, stomach, and lower ribs, still in-pain, to grab onto the side of the box. "Please?"

"Ah fine," I pat her head. "But don't eat all of it! It's not polite to deprive a sick person of their nutrition." My mind takes a little time to register that she's already pigging down Ramen as I speak. I sweat-drop and grumble, "Are you even listening?_!_"

Eve smiles a little and sits in a chair. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Meh," I shrug, pushing Willow to the side a bit with my fork. "Ribs in-pain, tubes hurt when you yank on them, am diagnosed with deadly boredom; anything else Eve?"

"Deadly boredom?" she tilts her head.

I scoff and roll my eyes. "Yep, deadly boredom. Do you know how lonesome a person gets stuck inside a hospital room with only a guardian character who **hogs the food**?"

"You said I could!" Willow complains with a Ramen noodle halfway into her mouth.

The tip of my index finger gently rubs the area between her white ears. "Yeah, yeah," I gripe. "I hear ya'."

Eve stares at the two of us and shrugs herself. "I don't know, seeing as I never had a character and rarely go into a hospital."

Willow thinks for a second before asking Eve, "That's because of that nanotechnology, right?" Eve nods. "Wow~ So cool! Hey, Onee-chan! Maybe you have it to!"

A brow quirks up on my forehead. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, why else do you have cat appendages?"

I don't even bother thinking about that last question. "WOOHOO! WILLOW SAID A WORD LONGER THAN SIX LETTERS!"

"Hey!" she bites my finger.

"OW! WHY YOU-"

"Aha~" she flies out of my reach.

I growl and point a finger at her. "You're _lucky_ that my gun ain't on me at the moment…"

Someone sighs as they enter. "Did _nobody_ teach you proper English?" I turn to Ikuto Tsukiyomi in the annoying flesh. He, also, has a bag. "That, and common sense! What were you thinking, taking on Wilde Spade by yourself?_!_ You could've gotten killed, you idiot!"

"I do not think pestering her on her choices is going to speed her recovery," Eve whispers under her breath.

My chest heaves with a sigh. "Look, her name is Sumiko, for one, and two, I've lived for years on the street alone, don't you think I can take on some lunatic chick?"

"Aha! That rhymed, Onee-Chan!" Willow sits on the top of my head.

"Oye…" Yoru groans from Ikuto's pocket.

Ikuto takes out Yoru's egg and lets the black cat character pop out. "'Oye' is right," Ikuto scolds me. "Just because you eat an apple once, doesn't mean you can do it again."

"Hey!" I through some un-eaten fruit cup at them. Seriously, how do the nurses find that _nutritional? _"Don't quote me and not give me credit!"

"Ugh, that was seven years ago! You still remember?"

"You do to!"

"Excuse me," Eve raises her hand slightly, "but are you going to go back to the point?"

Thank you Eve for moderating this debate. Ikuto stiffens and sits in a chair in front of the bed. "Even so, whether you say it or not, it remains true. You can't keep doing this forever, you know. Eventually you're gonna get old and I don't think it'll be hard for all these criminals to slam-dunk Granny Trixie into a _morgue._"

"That's it," I hold up my right arm. "No more violent crime flicks for you!"

"TRIXIE I AM SERIOUS!" Ikuto snaps. I blink at him in slight shock. Willow and Yoru stare as well, a bit sad I guess. Ikuto holds his face and starts shaking. "You're going to die someday…I don't want that day to be so soon…"

I roll my eyes and search the nightstand for anything portable. The tissue box conveniently there smashes into Ikuto's head. "Oh stop you're crying, I get the message!" I slump further into the bed. "Just go rape that kid already…" Eve looks extremely uncomfortable at that sentence. "A-Ah! I di-didn't mean you, Eve!"

Ikuto bursts out laughing. "Oh boy!" he manages. "Screwed that one up!"

"OH SHUT UP!" the clock goes flying. I think that the damages to the torn cord won't be a big problem, right?

Eve stands and bows. "Well, I'll be going."

"'Kay Eve!" I wave. "Tell Train to stop by so I can rub it in his face that _I got the bounty~_"

Eve raises a brow. "What do you mean? Sven has the bounty."

I freeze. **"WHAT?"**

"It's true," she states. "He picked it up before I came here."

Willow stares at my face. "Onee-chan, why do you look so red?"

"Maybe she's embarrassed-nya that her bounty was taken-nya?" Yoru pokes the twitching eyebrow.

"Ah shit!" Ikuto jumps up to pin me to the bed. "DON'T YOU DARE-"

"**THAT BASTARD!" **I thrash around.** "WHERE IS THAT ONE-EYED THIEF? I WANNA GUT OUT HIS INTESTINES RIGHT NOW AND LET HIM WATCH AS I CHOP IT UP INTO SUSHI!"**

"I-It's just the anesthetics t-talking, r-ri-right?**!**" Willow gulps as she clings to Yoru far away from me.

"H-H-Ho-Hope-Hopefully!" Yoru gulps as well.

"**ANESTHETICS MY ASS!"** I roar. **"SVEN, YOU FUCKING STEALER! WHERE ARE YOU?**!"

Eve giggles. "Sven!"

"Ugh, stop calling me!" that rat-bastard enters. "And I'm no thief, okay? I was picking it up for_ you_, Trixie."

He places a slightly heavy envelope on my nose. I calm down and Ikuto rests back into his chair. "Oh…Thank you…" I mumble.

"Hey Trixie!" Train pops in. "How are ya'? The pancreas feeling any better?"

"Ugh, you heard about that?" I grunt.

Train nods. "Yeah, I asked the nurse about how long you were going to stay." He sits on my ankle. "She mentioned that your Pancreas got scraped, so…"

"That's great, _now get your fat rear off my ankle."_

He blinks and looks down at his butt to see where it is. "Oh, sorry!" he chuckles, scooting over so he's in front of my foot. I don't take the opportunity to kick him though. "Anyways, hope you get well soon! I don't want you missing a house payment, you know?"

I smile and blush slightly. Yep, they gave me too many anesthetics. "Thanks Train. Oh, and I've been meaning to ask you something," I tap my chin.

"Really? Ask away, my good man!" he laughs.

…_**MAN?**_**!** Shoving that rage aside for later, I take a deep breath. "Why did Wilde Spade call you 'Black Cat'?" Train, Sven, and Eve seem to freeze. "What? Did I say something?"

"I don't think you did, Trix," Ikuto yawns. "Probably a nickname of sorts…"

Train is stunned for a few seconds. "Yeah…what the kid said," he points to Ikuto with his thumb. "Anyways, get better. Now, I'll be hitting the cafeteria!" He walks out with that.

Sven sits there while Eve runs out of the door. "Okay, so about this Pancre-_TRAIN! COME ON MAN, WE'RE POOR HERE!"_ And so, _he_ runs out with _that_.

Ikuto chuckles and crosses his ankles, leaning back while folding his arms over his chest. "Man, people just keep fleeing for their lives, eh?"

My cat-eyes roll at the poor joke. Willow and Yoru slowly make their way to the heads of their owners, staring at our faces as to watch us closely. Like midget stalkers, I guess? "Get a joke book, even the corny shit there is better than what you spit out," I talk with a mouth full of Ramen noodles.

"Get a manners book, even the uptight 'shit' in there is better than what you do," he sighs, standing up and grabbing a napkin out of that bag he brought. "Now stand still." I comply, so he wipes my mouth and neck clean of saliva and Ramen bits.

I stare at the bag and reach for it. He yanks it away though. "Hey, what's in the bag?" I whine. "No need to raise my anticipation for things!"

It's his turn to roll his eyes and he slips out Taiyaki. "It's for Amu and me," he replies.

Willow pokes my eyebrow to beckon my attention. Once more, I comply. "Why haven't we met Amu?" she asks me. I shrug and point to him. She turns to Ikuto instead. "Why haven't we met Amu?" she repeats.

"You never asked-nya!" Yoru answers. Ikuto simply point up at Yoru.

"True, but it's not like you ask to meet a partner's parents!" Willow counters.

Yoru dodges with, "That's different-nya!"

"Not by much!"

"Oh, so _that's_ why Willow reminded me of someone else!" Ikuto and I jump and turn to Kukai and some blonde boy. "Hey Trixie! I heard you were in the hospital and came to visit!"

Ikuto's face darkens slightly. "What's with the lack of honorifics?" he hisses slightly.

"He's just a kid, you grump," I huff. My smile goes to Kukai and his friend, who's glaring at Ikuto for whatever reason. "Hey Kukai. How's the injury?"

The kid comes up to the side of the bed with a big smile, per usual. "Oh, that healed what feels like ages ago! The question is how's _your_ injury? Arresting Spade like that, amazing!"

"No, Spade's her character," I tap his nose. "Her name is Sumiko."

"She had a character?" the blonde boy asks.

I nod. "That aside, who are you?" I wonder.

He bows his head. "My name is-"

"Tadase Hotori," Ikuto interrupts. "So how've you been, Kiddy King?"

Tadase growls. "Oh shut up," he snaps at him.

"Oh boy…" Daichi sits on the back of my hand.

I, however, am frozen. Ikuto has told me quite a bit about Tadase Hotori. He just never described him. So why is he with Kukai? Granted they're the same age, but kids don't always know one another. It's like saying one person knows them all. Willow kicks my nose, so I snap out of it. She lets out a 'meow' and sits next to Daichi, watching Tadase and Ikuto. "Why should I?" Ikuto smirks. "You don't really have any authority over me, despite Kiseki."

A king character with purple hair and some red cape flies out from behind Tadase, a gold crown perched on his head. I have heard of Kiseki to, but I have never been told about his appearance. "Away with your insolence, you untamed feline!" he spits.

"Umm, guys?" Kukai calls.

Yoru chuckles mischievously and waves to the king. "Insolence? It's just fact-nya. Not our fault you can't handle the truth-nya."

"Guys?" Kukai tries again.

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

"Who cares about authority?" Tadase counters Ikuto's previous statement. "What matters is that you be quiet!"

"But I'm visiting someone, so you can't stop me," Ikuto sticks out his tongue slightly, like a child.

_Beep-Beep_

_Beep-Beep_

_Beep-Beep_

"Guys," Kukai grunts.

"Why?" Tadase raises his voice. "You going to take her egg away? Make her work for Easter?"

"I can't _make_ her do anything," Ikuto shoves his hands into his pockets. "Nor can I take the idiot away."

"HEY!" Willow kicks his ear.

"Ouch!"

"Oh boy…" Kukai rolls his eyes. "Sorry about this Trixie."

_Beep-Beep-Beep_

_Beep-Beep-Beep_

_Beep-Beep-Beep_

"Eh?" Daichi blinks. "Trixie?"

Can't…move…_Rain. A girl, thirteen, sits on a rotten box. Her purple hair coats her face, the Tee shirt and shorts not protecting her at all. A boy, ten, sits across the ally from her, shirt and shorts not protecting him any better. "I regret what I did…But it's good, right?" he asks the girl. "At least I tried, right?"_

_Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep_

_Beep-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP_

_BEEP!-BEEP!-BEEP!-BEEP!_

"Eh, Trixie?_!_" Ikuto panics.

"What's going on?" Tadase gasps.

Willow tugs on a strand of hair. "Onee-chan!" she whines. "BREATHE YOU IDIOT!"

I open my mouth slightly and let some cool air slip in, then out. In, then out.

_BEEP-BEEP-BEEP_

_BEEP-BEEP-Beep_

_Beep-Beep-Beep_

_Beep-Beep-Beep_

_Beep-Beep_

_Beep-Beep_

_Beep-Beep_

_Beep._

_Beep._

"Oh my God, SHUT. UP," I snap at the machine, shoving a pillow into my face.

Ikuto grunts and reaches under said pillow, flicking my temple. "Idiot, don't make me worry like that."

"Oh whatever!" I chuck it at his head. "At least I'm old enough to drive!"

"So am I!" he gasps, a bit dumbfounded.

My brain tries to think-up a decent counter. "Well…um…" I point to him. "AT LEAST I DON'T RAPE KIDS!"

Tadase and Kukai blink. "I DO NOT!" Ikuto argues.

"YES!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"NO! NO! NO!"

I'm laughing so hard, the heart-monitor gets worse and worse. "AHAHAHAHA! MY-MY RIBS HU-HURT! AHAHAHA!** AHAHA**_**HAHAHA!**_"

"Oh whatever!"

A nurse barges in. "Excuse me, but all of you have to leave!"

I gradually frown. "Eh? Why?"

She grabs them all by the scruffs and starts to drag them out. "You are disturbing the other patients!"

Sure I can hear some nearby patients laughing, but since when is that disturbing them? Daichi waves goodbye and flies out. "Bye-nya!" Yoru zips off.

Kiseki tips his crown. "I hope we meet again, commoner!" He, also, leaves.

"…Commoner?" I blink.

"Uwa!" Willow complains, lying down on my head belly-up. "Now it's all boring again!"

After a few seconds of silence, I start to lose it. "Train!" I moan. "Eve! Sven!_ ANYBODY?_!"


	8. Thanksgiving

**Paper Flowers and Cat Whiskers**

_Eight: Thanksgiving _

_**Thursday, November 22, 2001**_

At least that's what the newspaper reads. I yawn and pat my mouth, at least attempting to have some good manners. Train gobbles up his food on my right and Sven glares at the gluttonous sweeper on my left. Eve, for one, just reads a book on Sven's left. I sigh and set the paper down, Willow blinking her wide eyes down at my face. My fingernail pokes the white fuzz ball known as Willow herself and she squeaks, rolling off and plopping onto my shoulder.

"Ah, Thanksgiving," I stretch a little, my Pancreas feeling like utter crap. "Too bad I can't afford a decent turkey…"

"Thanksgiving?" Eve takes her eyes away from the book to stare at me.

Green cat-eyes flash in and out of the eyelids as I blink. My eyes narrow to Sven, who notices and suddenly turns defensive. "H-Hey! Don't start blaming me for not telling her now!"

Train nudges me in the side. "Why don't you kill Sven later and just tell the Princess what it is?" said pig chugs down a glass of warm milk.

"YOU'RE SUCH A BIG HELP TRAIN!" Sven sarcastically snaps.

"YES I AM!" Train retorts.

Eve and I stare at them blankly. I let out a sigh and scratch my cap, my ears twitching beneath. "Hmm…Let's see…" The words struggle to form in my mouth. "Okay, so Thanksgiving is an American holiday celebrating a harvest that people called _pilgrims_ celebrated."

She seems irked by it. "How do they celebrate?" she wonders, turning to me completely.

It gets kind of difficult to speak over to two morons bickering constantly about Train 'selling Sven out' or something or another. "Well, people usually have this big feast, but before they eat they sort of pray-"-I clasp my hands together in example-"-and thank life for everything we're thankful for."

A smile stretches on her face as her eyes glisten with excitement even more. "It sounds like fun," she opinionates.

I chuckle and grab my glass of milk and chug it down. "Funny, I thought robots were against fun," I tease.

"I am not a robot," she states, staring at me.

Milk is splattered onto the counter as I choke on laughter and milk. "Ah!" Willow squeaks, being hit with milk. "Onee-chan!"

I keep laughing, milk being spit out with each laugh that passes my lips. What? It's so cute, I just have to laugh! My pancreas starts stabbing at my nerves, so the laughter turns into 'laugh-OW-laugh laugh-OW' or something like that. Blood in my brain is required for a functional thinking process, you know? One of them slaps me up the head and I grunt, holding the back of my head as I glare at Train. "Hey!" I complain.

He raises a brow. "What?" he blinks innocently. "I just made you stop choking."

"Yeah, _suuuure_," I nod sarcastically, sipping my milk. "You're just using that as a cover. Isn't he Sven?" I freeze at the aggravated expression Sven gives me. "H-Hey! Give that look to Train, not me!"

"What did you do this time?" a voice sighs. My reflexes tell me to jump and cling to someone's leg, but I replace that urge with a simple turn of my head. Ikuto stands in front of me, looking cross. "I mean seriously, just once could you _not _irritate someone?"

I pout and hang my head. "…Sorry…"

Willow freaks out and starts flailing her arms towards Ikuto. "HEY!" she whines. "DON'T GO HURTING ONEE'S FEELINGS!"

"I have a freaking name!"

Yoru pops out of Ikuto's jacket pocket. "Yeah you do-nya~" Yoru snickers. "It's Onee~"

My eyes narrow as I flip him off. "Oh dear…" Eve huffs, shaking her head at me. Is it not normal to flip off tiny flying people? Hmm? IS IT?_!_

After that thought fully registers, my hand drops into my lap. A thick slam echoes in the air as my head bashes onto the counter. "OH MY GOD I'M GOING INSANE!" I groan.

Silence fills the coffee shop. Soft pats don't make my situation any better. "There, there," Train teases.

I punch him in the gut and glare from the edge of my vision. _**"Don't tease a sad person, bastard."**_

Sven breaks out laughing and we all go into chaos trying to escape the death-rumble cloud of Train and Sven. Maybe you could fill in the blanks? If not-and this is paraphrased so you don't die laughing-, Train went all mad and started beating Sven, who beats back. Of course, their fighting is moving from location to location, so it goes to the point where Ikuto has to heave both Eve and I onto a table to avoid being plowed over. With that in mind, I shove Ikuto off and he does, in fact, become a victim of such.

"OW!" he yelps. "TRIXIE!" I laugh and fall behind the counter.

Half an hour ticks by and ends with all of us in a booth, all but Eve somewhat bandaged up. Sven sips his coffee silently. Train taps the table while glaring at the sweeper. Eve reads as Ikuto discusses his purpose for even coming. "Utau wants to celebrate Thanksgiving?" I ask, Yoru and Willow swimming in my milk.

"Un," he nods. Damn it! TRANSLATE YOU STUPID UNCONSCIOUSNESS! "She's sort of worried about Soko and even more so with you, so she thought this would help."

I shrug and tap the glass. "What do you say, Willow?"

Her white head pops out of the glass, golden eyes sparkling. "As long as it gets Onee away from work, I'm okay~"

Yeah, she sort of has me under job-probation until my pancreas doesn't feel like it's going to burst. Of course, I could work all I want and she cannot do anything but squeak in my ear all day about how bad of an idea it is. Yet again, I'm a nice person, so I comply to her wishes. Besides, it's best to be nice to your guardian characters otherwise they'll get all uptight and bitchy with you. Save yourself the trouble and comply, people. So, since her permission is granted, I nod and Ikuto stands. "Okay, see you later then."

"Wait, you're not going?" I wonder.

"'Course not," he laughs. "You know me."

My glare is once more plastered to my face. "Ikuto Tsukiyomi, if you do not go, I will personally hunt you down and drag you to your house by the _intestines. _Am I understood?"

He ponders on it before shaking his smirking face. "Nope~" He dashes out with that.

A growl protrudes from my throat and I snatch my glass. If it had not been for Willow, I would have drunk Yoru along with the hairy milk! Well, not that I particularly care. Sven sets his cup down and faces me with his single eye and eye-patch. "Why isn't that kid going to his own house?" he inquires.

"Maybe he's a runaway," Train shrugs, leaning back while crossing his arms behind his head.

Lips part to answer, but Yoru interrupts before an answer can leave them. "OF COURSE HE ISN'T-NYA!" he scolds, Train pulling his head back just to get some distance between Yoru and his nose. "Don't be stupid-nya!"

"HEY!" Train snaps. "Who's being stupid?_!_"

Yoru's retort is, "YOU!"

Sven and I exchange glances before shaking our heads at both of them. "Train, don't tell me you can't win an argument with _him_," Sven points to Yoru.

"Well, his intellect is shy," Eve whispers behind the book she reads.

Train's eye twitches with irritation. "Care to repeat that,_ Princess?_"

"Well, his intellect is shy," she repeats a tad-bit louder.

"Got that right," I chuckle.

Train slumps. "Oh shut up," he grumbles.

I laugh and whip out my phone, checking the time. Realizing Ikuto never told me the time, I stand. "Excuse me," I bow my head, walking out of the shop. I dial Utau and wait for her to pick up. She does so on the second ring.

"_Hello?"_

"Utau, it's Trixie." My voice comes out as a yawn.

"_Trixie!"_ she exclaims, obviously excited. _"What's up?"_

My eyes roll. "The sky, clouds, birds, flying mice, what else?"

"_Oh, right. HOW ARE YOU."_

I chuckle, imagining her pout. "Fairly 'meh'. Pancreas is killing me…So, um, when is that Thanksgiving thingy-mic-bobber Ikuto was talking about?"

"_He didn't tell you?"_

"Nope," I blink. "That's why I'm asking in the first place. Did you think I just wanted to waste your time or something?"

"YES!" Willow yanks my hair.

"OW! OW! Why aren't you inside?"

She sits on my shoulder, sulking. "'Cause I wanted to be with Onee…"

My eyes roll and I pat her head. _"Hehe, Willow?"_

"Who else calls me 'Onee'?"

"_True, true. Okay, I was thinking maybe around four? Can you make it then?"_

Again, I am interrupted by a midget cat that flies. "Yes~!" Willow confirms. "See you then!"

"_Okay, bye Trixie!"_

"Bye Utau." I hang up. Facing Willow, I sigh. "Did you _have _to interrupt? I mean I have vocal cords for a reason."

Willow blinks at me before hanging her head. "Sorry Onee-chan…"

I huff and pat her head. "It's okay," I yawn. "I just don't like being constantly interrupted by guardian kitties…" The door jingles once it opens. My eyes are instantly drawn to the person who caused the noise, Train. "Oh hey."

His hands are in his pockets casually. On the other hand, his head is tilted as he wears a confused expression. "What was that about?" he pries into my privacy.

Eh, don't blame him. What's not to be curious about, these days? "Just a call to a friend," I slip off my hat to scratch behind my ears, one eye squeezed shut.

"Ah. Well, you really going to celebrate Thanksgiving?" he wonders.

"Duh, it's a holiday. Of course I'm gonna celebrate it." My cap is replaced and I straighten. "Maybe you, Sven, and Eve could celebrate it to." Another jingle tears through the air as I step back inside. I go up to the counter with my wallet and pay the fee for my milk and walk straight out again. For now, all I have to do is find something to do while I wait for four o' clock-or three thirty seeing there is the time to walk there-and that's nine hours away-or eight and a half, once again-. "Jeez, anything we can do for that length of time?" I whisper under my breath.

"Sleep!" Willow cheers.

Well, that's a thought. In so, we go back to our apartment and snooze for a fair bit. To my astonishment, a field of white flowers appears before me. I have to guess this is a dream. My eyesight, blurry at the edges, turns down to look at the flowers. Instead of being white, they're _paper._ _What the Hell? _I pluck one off the ground and examine it. There are some scribbles of things I remember that I have said before. Another has more of quotes from yours truly. And another. And another. A bit frightened, I drop the flowers onto the ground and stumble back. I crash onto a section of flowers and all of them pop out of the ground, flying up and swirling around me like mad. I stare with wide eyes as a red eye shines from behind them, a figure of a man coming with.

"_Found you…"_

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" I fling up.

"EEK!" Willow is also flung, having been sleeping on my forehead.

My body is drenched in cold sweat, eyes wide. I shake my head to get it out and jump out of bed. For the millionth fucking time in this _month_, I slam into the ground due to the blanket having tangled around my legs. "GOD DAMN IT!" I scratch at it with my nails. _"Every! Single! Time!"_

Willow fights to get out of a folder she landed in. Once out, she plops onto the desk and pats at her hair to fix it. She turns to me, looking slightly worried, slightly shocked, and also slightly innocent. "Calm down, Onee-chan!" she huffs. "It is possible for you not to do it."

My eyes roll and I glance at the clock.

**4:21 P.M**

"You have _got _to be shitting me," I glare at the red numbers. "Who sleeps that long?_!_"

"You?" Willow blinks. I grab her and her egg. "EEK!"

Rushing out the door, I trip on the stairs and cause my Pancreas to sting. I ignore it and keep running, slamming into the door and causing a crack from my nose. Mr. Miyamoto only blinks as I ignore the bleeding from my nostrils and swing the door open, dashing out immediately. It takes a bit of running, but I slam into the front gate of the residence, topple over, and crash onto my back. "NGH!" My brain takes time to access the pain in nearly every place in my body. "…O-Oww…"

The 'khack' of the front door comes to my attention. "Oh my God!" a voice shrieks. Footsteps hurry over and Soko's face appears above my own. "Are you alright, Trixie?_!_"

My body does nothing for a few seconds until my head weakly shakes left to right. "Ask my pancreas and it'll tell ya' the details."

Her eyes roll. "Oh Trixie…Ikuto! Can you come down here? Your friend is dying!" No answer. "Utau!"

"Coming!" another voice says. Utau Tsukiyomi rushes out, but instead of panicking, she blinks like a moron. "…Did you get hit by a bus or something?"

"Yeah like, _five minutes ago_," I remember the incident. Luckily I have cat reflexes, so it didn't bother my arm much when I got right back up. "It took me fifteen minutes to get here, all with _enormous _amounts of bad luck, so somebody better tell me Ikuto is here, _**or I'm whooping his ass in the mother fucking morning!"**_

Soko stares at me before sighing. "Let me guess, you landed on your tail?"

"**YOU THINK?**_**!**_"

Her giggle makes me glare. How dare she laugh at an injured woman? "Well, you do not need to put on your sailor's tongue every time you land on your tail." She starts helping me up as Utau runs over to her aid. "Now let's get you inside before you cough up a lung."

"Already did," I hack out a brown thing. "…That better not be a hairball…"

They laugh and help me in (avoiding the hair ball to all cost), setting me at the dinner table. On the table is a colorful feast of turkey, stuffing, and whatever else people have at belly-bursting feasts. These two have _obviously_ done research on the tradition, seeing as Thanksgiving is not really celebrated here in Japan. Soko also sits, along with Utau. "Ikuto, come down!" Utau calls. No answer.

I huff. "IKUTO TSUKIYOMI GET YOU ASS DOWN HERE!" No answer. "Grr…Be right back." I stand up and stomp out, grabbing the rail of the stairs securely and supporting myself up. His door comes up when I get off the stairs and walk a bit. In so, I pound on it with all my might. "COME! ON! BEFORE! I! DIE! FROM! HEART! FAILURE!"

A similar pounding is aroused from the other side. "SHUT! UP! BEFORE! I! GET! A! MIGRANE!" Ikuto roars.

"Wow, so nice…" I mutter.

He sighs and opens the door, Yoru on his shoulder and his hair all messed up. Maybe he was napping? "Do not expect me to…WERE YOU HIT BY A FREAKING AIRPLANE OR SOMETHING?_!_"

"No, a bus and an ice cream cart," I correct. "Now get downstairs so my pancreas doesn't stress any farther."

With a simple sigh of defeat, he walks downstairs and sits at the table. I take my time for my legs feel broken in several places and plop into a chair. I say grace, seeing as they have no idea what the heck they're doing, and we dig in. Willow and Yoru spare no time eating either. "Hello!" Il pops up next to me in all her devil glory.

"H-Hi," El waves shyly. "EEP!" she squeaks when Il kicks her.

"Hehe!" Il chuckles mischievously. A piece of drumstick hits her head. "Hey!"

"Be nice!" Willow sticks her tongue out. Yoru bursts out laughing and 'nya'ing.

"WHY YOU!" Il growls, tackling Willow.

Willow puts up a good fight, scratching and hissing, as Ikuto, Utau, and I watch. Soko doesn't really pay mind, seeing as she can't see them. My mind starts to wander off at the point where El starts waving her white flag. It's nice to finally do this thing again, I must admit. Although, I can't help but feel empty inside (and I'm pretty sure all my internal organs are there). My family springs to mind, smiling and laughing. I shrug and chomp on some turkey when my phone rings.

"Oh, excus-"

"You can answer it here," Soko smiles.

I nod and flip it open. "Hello?"

_Bzzzzzzz…_

"Uhh…"

I hang up and pocket it. "Who was it?" Ikuto blinks.

Everyone, character and human, stares at me. "Wrong number, that's all," I fib. By the look on Willow's face, she knows as good as me that I'm lying.


	9. Afro Clown

**Paper Flowers and Cat Whiskers**

_Nine: Afro Clown_

"Ah, today is a good day!" I hop out of bed and onto the ground. My pancreas feels a bit icky, but that will go away! Tonight I am either getting a job or at least whopping Ikuto's ass for keeping me waiting so long yesterday. The twenty-third is today, a number that I doubt really is special unless it is the third Thursday of the month!...Or fourth…Ah, I will look it up later! Grabbing baggy pants and a purple tube-top, I rush out the door.

Am I forgetting something? "ONEE-CHAN!" Oh right, the character. I stop in the middle of the hall as I shove on the jeans and wriggle into the purple constrictor, Willow zipping up with my leather jacket. "What the Heck? I help out to you know!"

I shrug indifferently. "News to me," I tease. This, however, makes her slump in depression. "Err…sorry?"

Next thing I know, I am getting pummeled with a little notebook. "MEANIE! MEANIE! MEANIE! MEANIE!"

"Abuse!" I laugh, running. "ABUSE!"

Per usual, this lasts a couple of minutes before she tires out. Promising revenge, she rests on my head in a little ball of white fluff. The walk to the _Coffee Buck_ is not long, per usual. Although, the gun to my face once I enter is, how to put it, _not per usual._ Yes. That seems right. "Oh, hello!" Train greets. "Thought you were my target for a second."

My left eyebrow perks up with question. "And you're camping out for your target at a _coffee house?_" I question. "Talk about bad choice of location, bucko."

He looks offended by this. That, of course, does not last and is replaced by a prideful cat-grin. "Feh! You're just jealous because_ you_ haven't thought of this!" he holds the edges of his jacket in that _'haha!'_ manner. As I stare in disbelief, he slumps. "Don't look at me like that…"

"Why?" I demand. "Does it make you uncomfortable or something?"

"Yes, which is **why** I said it." Why. Such a peculiar word, is it not?

Despite his word choice, I answer. "Then no," my smirk appears. "For it is my life long goal to make you uncomfortable."

His eyes roll and he pats the cap on my head. "Oh yeah, yeah." With that, I sit in the booth with Train and Eve while Sven checks the pin-up board for jobs. A waitress comes over and takes our orders before leaving to go to the counter. Once the waitress has reached her destination, Sven comes over and sits down with a flyer at hand. "So, what's the job?" Train asks.

Sven hands him the flyer, a cigarette in mouth. "Some low-rank thief," he answers in mumbles. "Nothing more than an off-of-the-street crook."

"Aw man!" Train slouches back, looking disappointed. "Why not something a bit more_ exciting?_ Ya' know, like Godzilla or Mothra!"

"THOSE AREN'T EVEN REAL!" Sven scolds.

Eve exchanges glances with me. I can tell we are both thinking the same thing, so I nod at her. We turn to Sven. "Have you even checked?" we inquire in unison. This shuts him up.

The waitress comes and gives Train his hot milk, Eve her water, and me my decaf coffee with extra milk. Sven tells her that he will have some water as response to her inquiry of what he will have. She scampers off, leaving us to go back to the discussion. "Back to the point," he huffs, puffing some smoke from his cigarette, "the only reason it's a low-level criminal is because doing a big-shot tonight is a bit bad for before a trip out of here."

This shocks me a bit, Willow way too much than I can account for. She zips out, my lips still on the edge of my coffee mug, and starts squeaking in Sven's face. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'TRIP OUT OF HERE'?**!**" she demands. "You can't leave!"

"Why not?" Train asks with a milk-mustache.

"Because-"-Willow starts. I grab her and start shoving her into her egg. "EEK!"

Forcefully closing her egg, I turn my attention back to them. "Ah," I nod. "Well, I hope we'll be able to meet again."

Sven smiles and nods. "Me to."

Pocketing Willow, I stand up giddily. "Well!" I clap my hands together. "I have to go get a job! See ya'. Oh, and can you pay for my coffee Sven?"

"WHAT?**!**" he shouts, jaw dropping to the table. "I can barely afford Train's _milk _and you expect me to pay?" When I nod, he slumps in defeat. "Ugh…"

The bulletin board has several jobs available for the taking. Most, however, are petty thieves and killers that can be caught with the flick of my little tail. A snort of indifference gives off the air of my disappointment right before I snatch the one with a rainbow-afro freak as the picture. The target it represents is a man under the alias of 'Afro Clown'; he is going for $400,000. My feet rush out of the door as quick as they can.

Willow, being one for my safety and all, pops out of my pocket, staring at me with wide eyes. "So who's the target?" she wonders.

"Afro Clown," I answer excitedly. "Hey…" I whimper as she looks at me funny.

Still not fully comprehending what that meant, she wriggles out of the pocket and hovers over to my hand, sitting on the side of my wrist and tugging the flyer from my clenched fist. Her eyes then start to bug out of her skull. "…Onee?" My grunt is her signal to continue. "You do know that he is diagnosed with necrophilia and charged with raping and homicide, right?"

I let out a laugh. "So what?" I shrug as my speed decreases. "It's not like I'm gonna get killed by scum like him and then raped in death, you know that right?"

Willow stares at me for a while. Eventually she sighs and drops her head low enough to cover her eyes. "Right…" she laughs weakly. Even I know she is worried sick.

The plan is simple. I will go to all clown-dispatching companies and investigate about the clown. According to the flyer, he is hired at parties by clown-dispatchers and then strikes after they cut the cake. Theory is that the cutting triggers some homicidal memory inside his psyche that goes back to a past memory or past witnessing. It sort of amazes me that this information is all on one piece of paper! So, using that information and the gathered Intel from the dispatchers, I will track him down to his current location. Whatever goes on from that point is completely up to fate and the will of God.

My character watches as I interrogate the various dispatchers. One company, however, claims to have hired the clown just yesterday and sent him to a party five blocks from here. Once they give me the proper address, one I know well, I shoot out of the door and down the designated blocks. Checking the time on some clocks on surrounding buildings, it is nearing lunch time, a probable time for cake to be cut and served. It is also the probable time for a sudden massacre of who knows how many innocent souls.

I am honestly not shocked at how long this run seems to take. Hey, with all this pent up stress, of course it is going to affect me somehow! Nature just chose to torment me and make this drag. Willow points up ahead to the orphanage of many years ago. This is a tall, rotting building with little banners and balloons as if to celebrate one's date of birth. Those festive decorations, however, do not prevent me from hating the building to my core. This orphanage held my older sister, Julia, until she was likely adopted out.

Pushing rage away, I slip out my pistol from its place and kick the door down, scanning the perimeter. The nuns scream and I shove my finger to my lips. My lips form the words 'a killer is here' and they shut up, pale as Hell. Pushing my ears up to slide the cap off, I detect shrieks of joy from the back of the orphanage. In so, I rush across the entrance hall and kick the back door down to, aiming my pistol at the first rainbow wig I see. Scanning a bit, it is the _only_ rainbow wig. Therefore it confirms the target.

"HANDS UP, DIRT BAG!" I order.

He whirls around, eyes wide. The face matches the picture. _Target confirmed,_ I think. "Wh-What?_!_" he gasps.

Kids scream and run to the fences, cowering in fear. The nuns push past me to get to them, gathering all the kids at the wall to my right. When Afro Clown refuses to put his hands up, I shoot his knee, making him crumple in pain. His screams make most of the children whimper in fright. Still cautious, I slowly progress forward, barrel aimed for his head. "Not one move!" I shout. Moving behind him, I lean down to grab his wrists. Instead, he grabs my gun and kicks the side of my face with his good leg. "UGH!" I grunt as I stumble.

He shoots up, grinning sadistically. Out of his sleeves slide those handkerchief ropes, knives attached to each end. Maybe his trigger is violence itself? "Ooh~ I'll have fun mutilating your corpse~" he purrs. Disgusting!

Prayers are whispered into the air by the nuns. Angered, my feet kick forward as I shoot. He hits the ground and throws his knives. They must have weights or something special, for they strike their mark at my shoulders. He yanks them out with a fair bit of force and pushes himself forward, using the ropes to return the hilts to his palms. Backing up, I deflect each slice he tries to deliver, finally pushing the barrel to his gut. Afro Clown shoves my wrist to the side before I pull the trigger, making the affected area his hip. Out of experience, I know that a shattered hip is not going to kill him anytime soon.

Another stab to the shoulder sends my gun whipping across his face. He only stumbles back. Willow squeaks and shoots out of my pocket as he charges forward again. "CHARACTER CHANGE!"

My ears straighten and my nails lengthen. Parrying a stab with the side of my pistol, I slash his nose in two with my claws. His screams scare the nuns into silence. One holds a cross, the beads on the necklace thread making irritating clicking sounds as her hand trembles around the cross. This angers him and causes him to charge for her, chucking the knives into her direction. Using cat reflexes, I pounce in front of her and swat the knives away. With a quick thank from her, I push forward and aim, shooting once more. Afro Clown jerks to the side, but gets a bullet in the upper arm.

He comes again, hissing and wild. Jumping up and threatening to stab me from above, I shoot at his gut. This time it hits and makes him drop his knives, eyes wide. He crashes on top of me, quaking from pain. As a last resort, he reaches for my pants. I whip my gun across his face again and knock him off. Soon after that I pin him and command the nuns to notify the police. Once the police arrive, a young woman in uniform hands me a slip to say that I did the job and that I deserved a pay-check for it. I am about to leave before the nun I saved grabs my arm.

When I turn, I am honestly shocked. This nun has long, black hair and big, green eyes. Her skin is fairly pale and she is a bit taller than me. Her facial features are identical to mine, and she is a couple of years older than me. "…Julia…" I blink.

She is crying a little. "I thought you had died…did you know that?" she whispers. Her eyes turn hard as she faces me straight on. "What happened to you? Why didn't you call, or visit? Why did you stay away? Did my actions make you bitter towards me?"

_Yes, WHY WOULD THEY NOT?_ I bite that particular response back, however. With a sigh, I cross my arms, my face serious. "Julia, you have to understand. You left me for practical dead at the age of ten."

"What?" she gasps. "No! I-"

"My _real_ sister came. She helped me stand up, to learn how to fend for myself." Willow, floating over my shoulder, blinks in wonder. "I would have died a Hell of a lot sooner if she hadn't had come. So I stayed with her and really never did get to contacting you because I was doing my _job._ I also met a nice family and when I get free time, I stay with _them_ because once I met them, they started helping me, informing me on small jobs for quick cash and giving me food when I couldn't afford a meal for the week!" She is speechless. "Julia, please understand, but I grew up. I met knew people who were there for me. You just expected me to be thankful for a sister who told me to beat it."

With droplets of tears in my eyes, I run away. After all these years, _now_ she shows up. She thinks that I will be happy, that I will still love her after abandoning me. Well, she was sadly mistaken. At the Sweeper office, I stand in line behind a guy with green hair and a white suit, still wiping tears away. The description runs through my head a second time and I gasp. He turns around and smiles. "Oh, hey Trixie!" Sven greets energetically. "That was fast."

"Not really, took me a few hours," I shrug coolly. "What about you?"

"Well, I got Eve and Train, but you're a 'work-alone' type of person, aren't you?"

Willow growls and beats him with her notebook. "I! AM! HERE! TO! YOU! KNOW!" she shrieks. Both of us cringe at the abnormal level of my character.

Sven swats her away and fixes his fedora with a huff. The line moves and Sven is next, so I wait in place. Once it's my turn, I hand the woman the slip and she hands me the money owed. I walk out of the office to see Sven waiting. "Come on, can't let a woman walk home by herself at this time of night!" he shrugs at my expression of disbelief.

My eyes roll. Willow flies under my recovered cap again, peeking her head out. A topic comes to my mind again and I turn to Sven, my hands in my pockets. "So…You're leaving tomorrow?"

"Yeah," he answers. "Sorry."

"It's okay," I nod once. "Just come back some time, 'kay?"

He nods and we enter the complex, the old man not by his desk. We go up the stairs and into my room, seeing a big honking note pinned to the wall with a knife. This makes my blood boil with rage and my fists to clench firmly. In big red letters that might as well be blood reads:

**DO NOT COME NEAR THE TSUKIYOMIS AGAIN.**

Damn that bastard Kazuomi! I will show him who the Hell he is ordering around like garbage!


	10. Snatch and Call

**Paper Flowers and Cat Whiskers**

_Ten: Snatch and Call_

At _Coffee Buck_, I sit with several newspapers and articles pulled from the internet. Willow ignores the milk next to my elbow, which is a first, and instead stares up at me worriedly. I honestly don't see what her problem is! "Onee-chan," Willow squeaks. I face her and as she opens her mouth, it shuts again. "…Never mind." She has been doing this all morning.

I don't really feel like working today, out of all honesty. Sure, you cannot really _choose_ when you work otherwise you either get fired or are not able to pay the bills, but what I am currently doing is a _tad_ more important than that. Scratching the areas behind my ears, I continue to examine the articles. Eventually my work is interrupted when someone sits across from me. "Sorry, seats taken," I mutter, waving aimlessly at the person.

"Oh?" a voice chuckles. "Not by a Tsukiyomi I hope?" The voice makes my nerves freeze. My head flies up with a piercing glare directed to none other than Kazuomi. He glances at one of the papers and raises a brow. "Jobs? Homes? What are you doing?"

"What business is it to you, dick-wad?" I spit, venom in every inch of my voice. "Go now before I send a bullet through that head of yours." He opens his mouth, but I slam my hand down onto the table. "I know the consequences of that and I don't _care_. I hate you and everything you've done to Ikuto-kun!"

Willow ducks behind my head, glaring at Kazuomi as well. This is how every single one of our meetings start, whether or not planned. If I have been counting correctly, this is the eighth time in seven years. Both Willow and I hate Kazuomi, and that is a fact that will never change. Knowing that I am on no means joking, Kazuomi stands and glares himself. "Remember to stay away from them. After all, you're giving them ideas." With that, he walks off.

The first thing I do is dial a number on my phone. Next, I immediately start whining into the speaker without waiting for the 'hello' of the other person. "SOKO! KAZUOMI'S BEING MEAN AGAIN!" I whine.

"_Oh d-dear!"_ she stammers on the other end. Knowing her, it's not by the not-so-newsy-news. _"Trixie, give me some time to be able to say 'hello' or something!"_

My green eyes roll and I lean back in the booth seat. "Yeah, yeah, don't lecture me on phone-manners while I'm complaining!" I mutter. She sighs on the other end, but says nothing to stop me from continuing. "Anyways, so I'm looking through jobs and homes-"

"_Why were you looking through that stuff?"_

Willow laughs as I scowl at nothing, letting out a deep sigh. "Soko, at _least_ let me finish!" I wait a few seconds to see if she will speak up again; she doesn't. "Thank you. Anyways, I was looking through that stuff when your _delightful_ husband goes on, sits down, and reminds me YET AGAIN to stay away from you guys."

"_Yet again?"_

"Yeah," I shrug. Digging in my pocket, I drag out the note. "He gave my apartment a visit and left this note there. Says to stay away from the Tsukiyomis basically."

There is some silence at the end. Obviously Soko is either trying to think of what to say or to get it all sorted out in her brain. She eventually sighs, "_Might as well do as he says-"_

I immediately hang up and storm out the door, Willow following me. "Onee-chan?" she asks. "What are you doing?"

"Going over to Soko's house to slap some sense into her, that's what."

As usual, it is not that far of a walk. I pound the door as many times as I can with my fist. Some scampering is heard on the other side, but I do not stop the banging. The door opens, and the banging switches from the door to Soko's head. "Ow!" she cries, ducking and holding her head. "T-Trixie!"

At this point I am shaking her like the mad-cat I apparently am (or so Willow is shrieking). "WHO ARE YOU AND WHERE IS THE REAL SOKO?**!**" I cry, fake tears streaming. My wrist pushes up to my forehead dramatically. "OH DEAR! SOKOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"ALRIGHT, _ALRIGHT_!" Soko shouts. I squeak and rush outside, slamming the door and hiding in a bush. "Ugh, s-sorry Trixie!"

One thing you don't know about Soko: SHE CAN YELL. She is actually more terrifying than she seems to be, but eh, still love her like the sister I _used_ to have. I pop my head out before crawling onto the steps and sitting like a cat, licking the back of my hand. "Nya~" Willow and I cheer. This makes me glance at Willow to see her doing the same thing I am. Talk about influence, huh? "Anyways, can I kill Kazuomi now?"

"No!" Soko groans. "You know I'm thinking about the children here!"

I shrug and stand. "Well, they don't know that, now do they?" She winces. "See? It's hurting Ikuto, Utau,_ and_ me. Couldn't you have married someone else?" I slink into the house on all fours.

Soko shuts the door and locks it, sighing and following me as I pounce onto a chair in the dining room. She sits down across from me, clasping her hands together. "Look, I know it's not_ great_-"

"It's not _okay_ either."

She gives me a look that tells me 'please shut up'. "Anyways…Just please bear it for now. I'll talk to him and tell him that he _will not_ send you anything like that again." Soko then proceeds to rest her head in her left hand, right index finger tapping the table. "Although what _could_ have possessed him to do such a thing…?"

Several ideas pop up into mind, but I doubt Soko knows anything related to them. If she did, she would have allowed me to kick my boot up his ass _long_ ago! For now I simply shake my head. Thinking that we should drop the subject for now, we move onto the subject of Eve, Train, and Sven leaving. I honestly want to see them again, since they're nice and a good group to listen to when you want to calm down from a long day. Unfortunately, sweepers have to move around _sometime_.

Just like me.

The phone in the other room rings and she runs to get it. It takes a few minutes for my boredom to kick in and for my head to slam onto the table. "Onee-chan!" Willow tugs my hair. I glance up to see her face covered in doodles. Glad she can keep herself busy when I talk to people. "Can we go into Ikuto-kun's room?"

"Why?" I whisper. Willow shrugs, which only tells me one thing: she is bored to.

With a sigh, I get out of the chair and tip-toe to the stairs, creeping up as to not make noise. I _highly_ doubt Soko would want me searching through Ikuto's room just to indulge my bored needs. Thankfully, this is not a mansion, so it does not take hours to get to his room. I open the door and slowly push it open, praying it won't squeak like in the horror movies where the dumb-fuck walking into **obviously **dangerous grounds opens the door to the room with the antagonist of the movie.

His room is neat. The bed is made and the window is shut as the curtains sway on either side of it, letting beams of light streak in. The only real noticeable thing that you would not generally find in a normal room is what is on the nightstand. There, sparkling in the light, is a lone key. Willow flies over to it and picks it up by the chain it is attached to, carrying it over to me. After dropping it in my hands, she flies onto my wrists to examine it. There are four hearts, all of which forming a clover with an 'X' in the middle. It seems to be gold, but I cannot really tell.

Now, I have no idea what stage of puberty Ikuto is in, but this is borderline _ridiculous._ Unless if he plans to give it to that Amu girl, he is messing up his mind with some glittery key. I pocket it before sneaking out of the room and down the steps once more, grateful that Soko is not done talking to whomever is speaking. "P-Please, Ikuto-kun, he's just stressed out!" Oh, that's who.

Later, I am searching through the articles at home when my phone buzzes. I pick it up and pin it between my head and my shoulder. "Hello, Trixie speaking," I mutter, squinting my eyes at an article with midget-print.

"_Hey, this is Train!"_

This makes me blink and set the article down, gripping the phone and slouching forward. "What is it?" I ask soberly.

He probably senses the tone in my voice._ "Nothing serious. Just wanted to call you and say that we're actually staying longer."_ For whatever reason, my heart flutters with joy, making Willow sky-rocket to the ceiling. Oops. _"Sven said something about relaxing for a bit. You know, sort of like vacation with work."_

"Bummer," I say, leaning back. In truth, I am grinning from ear to ear. Sven decided to stay for me, didn't he? Well, think about it. He sees the note when he walks me back and therefore gets all worried. Wish Julia would have been more like that. "You know what? Meet me at the _Coffee Buck_ tomorrow. Breakfast's on me, okay?"

"_REALLY?_!" he cheers. _"SVEN! TRIXIE SAYS TO MEET HER TOMORROW AT THAT CAFÉ-THINGY! SHE'LL PAY FOR BREAKFAST!"_

I am laughing my head off as Willow flies onto my shoulder, rubbing her head. "Onee-chan?" she calls up, worried. I glance down at her. Seriously, why is she so worried and silent today? "Do you think we should return that key to Ikuto-kun? It kind of looks important…"

The key is on my own nightstand, glittering with the lights in the room. I snatch it and slip it over my head, the key falling in front of my chest. "I doubt he'll miss it," I mouth.

Why do I have a feeling that I'm wrong?


	11. Blame

**Paper Flowers and Cat Whiskers**

_Eleven: Blame_

Not sure why, but I think that over the years I really _have_ been taking the best-paying jobs. Just saying, as mounds of salt fly past my face and rice bits decorate my face. Eve has her face buried into my back and Sven is under the table with his fedora covering his own. Today's observation: Train eats like a _boar_. Honestly, what else could wipe out two plates of rice in a minute and a half? He acts like he was starved for most of his life!

Willow dangles off the key around my neck, swinging it side-to-side. "Wee~" she cheers. "Wee~ Hey, Onee-chan! Do you think Ikuto-kun got this for Yoru to play with?"

Scratching a patch of tangled purple hair, I think. Willow understands this once my cat-eyes narrow at the counter and I no longer pay attention to the flying food. Honestly, Ikuto doesn't give jack-shit about sparkling things (unless there was something in his youth he has yet to tell me about). He also doesn't give Yoru stuff; Yoru usually just takes whatever.

Reminds me of one time when I was still in the allies. Ikuto and I were eating Udon bowls that Soko made (much to his protest). Willow was playing with a wristband that said 'nya~' because, well, it said 'nya~'. Yoru was staring at our Udon like a starved kitten (which, I will admit, was more likely than Train being starved). Eventually he noticed that Willow was using the wristband as a hula-hoop. Now enticed with new interest, he decided he would try it to. So, he tackled her, swiped the wristband, and started trying it himself. Of course Willow was not all too pleased with that and there began Cat War I. It stopped after a month when Ikuto and I got tired of the mini-water balloons, pins, and shockers.

"Hey!" Train bellows. I fall back in my seat in surprise. He stares at me as I sit, stunned, before getting to the point of why he scared the crap out of me in the first place. "Got any ketchup?"

A vein in my forehead turns into a massive, pulsating lump under my skin. _**"THAT WAS IT?**_**!"** I scream, startling a large portion of the customers around us in the _Coffee Buck._ _**"YOU SCARE ME HALF TO DEATH FOR-!" **__Chomp!_ "OW! Sam-I-am-a-hooker!" My hands clamp over my ears, whom of which are victim to Willow's surprisingly sharp teeth. "Willow, what was that-!"

She points to Eve, who is now squashed under me and quickly losing air. I jump off and her face regains its pinkish hue. Sven tugs her up so that she is at least sitting on the ground. Facing Train again, I am met with an amused rin. "Hehe, so I scared you, huh?" he chuckles, shoving a spoonful of rice into his mouth. "Kinda funny if you ask me."

"Well, nobody asked you if you found that funny," I snap. "Point is to not do that again before you cause someone to have a heart-attack…" I sit and the waitress brings me my glass of coffee (with extra milk) and a plate of eggs. "NO," I snap at Train as he puppy-dog eyes (or kitty-cat eyes?) my food.

He pouts a bit and scoots closer to me. "Just a little nibble?" he pleas.

My mouth opens so I can ask him what the definition of 'a little nibble' would be. It shuts, however, when Sven starts shaking his head like his (or my) life depends on it. This scares me into just keeping my trap closed and to start eating while pushing Train's head away from my food. He pecks my pulse as a bit of a joke, I know, but I punch him dead-on anyways. The waitress does not seem to mind it when we start fighting very much like Sven and Train on Thanksgiving.

After a few cuts and plenty of bruises, we are to be found back in our seats, Willow on my head while rolled into her little white ball of fluff. Seriously, she could be a cotton ball for crying out loud. Out of pure sadism, I pluck her off using my 'pinching fingers' as I like to call them and dip her back slightly in the coffee. "YE-OW!" she shrieks, zipping up and crashing into the ceiling. Willow falls into the coffee and does this again, but with my face.

"AH!" I fall back. The chair clatters on the floor as my back bruises even more with the collision with the ground. As I lie there and Willow is crying about 'how can Onee be so cruel' and 'my butt burns' (which, no matter what anyone says, is not something to announce to the general public), my phone rings. _Great timing…_I pluck it out of my pocket and hold it to my ear. "Trixie the sweeper, at your ser-"

"_Where is it?"_

…Ikuto? I sit up slowly, Willow shutting her yap and staring at me worriedly. I guess she can tell why I seem so stunned. "Ikuto? Where is wha-"

"_The necklace. That woman said you were here yesterday."_

I raise a brow. Really can't explain why, to tell the truth. He cannot even see me, so why bother? "I don't know what you mean. What necklace?"

There is a groan on the other end. _"Stop it Trixie. Just tell me where it is."_

"Dude, I don't have any necklaces!" I fib.

"But-"-Train starts, but Eve tapes his mouth shut with Duct Tape from a stranger's pocket.

My eyes roll. "Anyways, why would you have a necklace in the first place?"

"_Don't dodge the question. Where is it, Trixie?"_

Now it is my turn to groan. "If you ask me that one more time, Yoru is going straight up your-"

"Onee-chan doesn't know," Willow interrupts, now possessing my phone.

I blink before swiping it back. _Damn flying midget…"Well, if you don't, who does?"_ he inquires.

The gears in my head turn as they try to generate a decent lie. "Hmm…Well, I do recall the window being unlocked…I had to lock it back up, so maybe someone went in and took it that way?"

"_Don't be silly. My room is on the top floor. Only a flying person would-…"_ Ikuto falls silent.

Now I am worried. What conclusion did he come to? "…Ikuto?"

"…_Thanks Trix. This was helpful." Click!_

I hang up and sit back in my chair, saying nothing. Train, Sven, and Eve ask nothing of it either, which I find rather convenient. After breakfast (and my retirement fund being erased), Willow and I leave and wander around until we get to a park. Willow, being a cat, wants to play in said park. Me, being part cat, wants to do the same. In so, we both go and sit on a bench in front of a fountain, watching people walk by. Most of them, however, are fairly disappointing.

Some are tramps with too-tight or too-small clothes that show more cleavage than necessary and a lot of the whity-tidy region, which sadly lacks the underpants that are supposed to be there. Some are kids, whining and complaining to their parents about wanting ice cream. Then there are the bitchy teenagers yelling at their boyfriends about how it's over, or girlfriends, or visa-versa. Surprisingly, one girl stands out from all of the rest.

She has pink hair; it looks like bubblegum, I guess. Her eyes are gold, but a little red and swollen as if she has been crying. She bears a school uniform, but it seems to be a bit tricked out to fit her taste a bit more. Four characters revolve around her head, whining at her about something. The girl stomps over and sits on the other end of the bench, sniffling. "I don't get it!" she wails. "I didn't _do _anything!"

Willow frowns and looks at me. I shrug and motion to the girl. Willow floats over, being the sympathetic little fuzz-ball she is, and taps one of the characters (a blue artist with a spade on her beret) on the shoulder. "Is she alright?"

The character jumps and whirls around. "Whoa, another character!" a pink one cheers. Doesn't surprise me since she looks like a cheerleader…With a heart even!

"Hello-desu!" a green chef waves. This one has a club on her hat.

A yellow one with diamonds on her headband and what seems to be a singer's style flies over to Willow. "Hey. Who are you?"

Willow smiles and twirls around, giggling. "I'm Willow!" she exclaims. Then she remembers her purpose. "Again, is she okay?" She points to the girl.

All four characters frown and sit on the girl's head. "Amu-chan is sad…"…_Amu?_ "Someone's blaming her for something she didn't do."

Oh shit. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. I speed up and rush over to a tree, dialing like wildfire and pushing the phone to my ear. It clicks, and I don't give Ikuto a chance to say 'hello?'. **"IKUTO YOU SON OF A BITCH! HOW COULD YOU BLAME A LITTLE GIRL FOR STEALING A NECKLACE?**!"

"…_OW_?**!**" Yoru replies back.

I'm dumbstruck. "…Yoru? Where's Ikuto?"

"_AT THE PARK-NYA!"_ he yells back. _"NOW IF YOU EXCUSE ME, I WILL CHOP OFF MY BLEEDING EARS-NYA!"_ _Click!_

I groan and shove my phone away, yanking the necklace off of my neck. Someone tugs on my jacket before I can really pocket it. Behind me is Amu, confused. "Do you know Ikuto…?" she asks, a bit hesitant. I nod. "Do you know who took his key?" I shake my head. "Oh…"

"You're Amu?" I ask. She nods. "Huh. He talks a lot about you."

"Really?" She blushes.

I nod. "All the time," I assure. I let my arms drop. "He seems to really like you."

Amu's face is as red as a tomato. "Oh, that's…"

"Creepy?" I chuckle.

She giggles a little herself. "No…Nice, I guess."

Willow floats over to me. "This is my owner! Say hi, Trixie~" I glare and flick her nose. "EEK!"

"I am not a dog," I remind.

"YOU SURE?" When I whap her on the head, she whines and rolls up into a ball on Amu's head. "MEANIE!"

The yellow character laughs as the pink and green one pat Willow. Miss Blue flies up to me and waves. "I'm Miki!" she introduces. "The pink one is Ran, the green one is Su, and the yellow one is Dia!"

They wave at me and say 'hi'. I wave in return and look down at Amu. "So, Ikuto's blaming you for losing his key?...Or something?"

She nods and frowns. "He came up to me and asked me where it was, okay? I said I didn't know and he calls me a liar and that someone even had evidence that I took it! We had a bit of a fight, and now he thinks I stole it!" Amu sniffles and wipes her eyes. "I-I don't get it…Why would he think I stole it?"

I shrug. Beats me what that delusional cat things. "Who knows?" I lift my shoulders up, raising my lower arms up to level with the shoulders.

Dia gasps. "Amu-chan!" she exclaims. "Look!"

Amu gasps to, and her eyes turn blank; lifeless. What? "…W-Why do you…you have Ikuto's key?" She points a hand at mine. I glance at the hand and cuss. The key is right there, yet to be pocketed.


	12. Return

**Paper Flowers and Cat Whiskers**

_Twelve: Return_

Shit. Double shit. Triple shit. Shit four times, over the hill, and back again! How am I supposed to explain _this?_ If I tell her the truth, she'll tell Ikuto and he'll go all pregnant-teenager-pissed at me! If I lie, well, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIE? Willow gulps and scratches the back of her head. Guess just let the mouth do the work. "Oh, this? This is his key?" I ask.

"Y-Yeah…" Amu stutters, still in shock.

"Oh well I'll be!" I laugh. "Woopsie! I found it on the ground outside his house, so I picked it up. Didn't think it was his, though! Seriously, Ikuto's…well, he might be a feline, but he ain't feminine."

Amu relaxes. Yes, SCORE!...What am I, ten? "Thank goodness…Well, Ikuto won't have a reason to be angry at least, right?" she smiles.

Willow scratches the back of her head. "When he hears that she said it makes him feminine there will…" she mutters. I yank her tail. "YE-OW!" she sky-rockets up into the air and takes a few minutes to come back down. "What is this? Willow-Abuse Day?**!**"

I chuckle and pat her head. "No, it's You-Don't-Say-That-To-Ikuto-Or-No-Fish Day," I hum.

"…Meanie." Willow floats off to let crocodile tears flow onto Ran's shoulder.

Amu seems a bit amused by the whole ordeal of Willow-and-Me. She turns to me, seemingly polite. "Is this how it always is with you two?" I nod. "Wow. So when did you get her?"

My character stops and turns to Amu, looking somber. She shakes her head and floats to me as a frown carves into my face. The day I got Willow, or the best day of my life, was also the day my family was slaughtered, or the worst day of my life. I won't tell her about it, because I remember when I told Ikuto when he was ten.

Last I remembered, I was sitting on the box one day and he came with some Soko-made soup (or God's soup, as I called it back then). I told him to thank the wonderful chef for having decent cooking skills and not making me want to claw my throat out. He got sour and started insulting her, saying she wouldn't get a praise even if she was shot in the line of duty. Now, I found this pretty cold. Who wouldn't at least give one praise to their own mothers? I asked what she did that was _so_ bad that made him hate her. His answer?

"She re-married."

That's all he said. Seriously, I laughed so hard that broth was squirting out my nose (which, albeit, hurt like Hell). He demanded why I was laughing and I said it was because it was so ridiculous that I just had to. He almost stormed out when Willow blurted that I went through a far worse Hell than my mom getting re-married. Ikuto interrogated me about it and at the part of my tale where Julia left me on the sidewalk he was already in tears. Guess he felt sorry for me.

So, I'll just save Amu from that sympathy. What to tell her though? "…I got her when I was all alone…" Nice; short and crisp just the way I like it.

She looks confused, but she leaves the matter to die. After all, my 'aura' is not a positive one. To change the subject, Su flies up to my face. "So, are you going to return the Dumpty Key to Ikuto-kun, desu?" she wonders.

_Dumpty Key? What a shitty title for something like this. _"Nah," I shrug. "I guess I'll just return it in secret. Anyhow, don't tell Ikuto I have it until I have it back in his room, okay?"

"But how's that going to help?" Miki asks.

Ran seems to agree. "He's just going to think someone put it back."

"It's best to just tell the truth," Dia shrugs.

Amu and I glance at each other. Within a few seconds of our staring, we burst out laughing. "T-Telling the truth, AHAHA!"

Willow sighs and scratches the back of her neck, laughing forcefully. The other four sweat-drop and turn to her. They do not really need words to understand that their owners are one-of-the-same. Well, in all honesty, I see nothing wrong with that. The characters might, but I don't. Sorry; I just like people who think alike. People of the general public might say 'opposites attract', but really it's people with the same interests. How else would I be slightly friends with Train, Sven, and Eve if we weren't all Sweepers?

When Amu and I manage to stop laughing, I pocket the key and check the ammo in my pistol. According to Yoru, Ikuto's at the park. If my assumptions are correct, he's still here, due to the fact that he didn't already get home. Trust me, I've known him for seven years, _he is fucking fast. _So, if he's going to pop out at any given moment, might as well be armed and non-suspicious.

The characters sigh and glance at each other. "I'm not sure if this is a good idea…" Willow fidgets nervously. "I mean, you know how Ikuto-kun can get."

Ran pats Willow's back. Su and Miki nod in agreement. Dia, however, floats over to Amu with a stern look. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? It might hurt his feelings if he finds out…"

"Why would it?" I ask. "I took the key, not Amu. It's not like she's going to convince him I'm the one who has it!" This is where I face Amu. "…Right?"

"Of course not!" she shudders. "If anything, I'm going to be trying to clear my name here. But, I will help get him on good terms if he gets mad." Good kid; I like her.

Amu and I go back to the bench and chat about things that aren't really important. Most of my time talking is spent talking about what it's like being a Sweeper, or talking her out of having that as a future career. She spends most of her time talking about how she met Ikuto (at a construction site of all places…), her times with Ikuto, how she found him to be a perverted cat who would stop at nothing to make fun of King Tadase (relatable), and how she wasn't really surprised that Easter was causing me as much Hell as they were causing her and the fellow Guardians of her school (which she explained to me as well).

The characters use their talking time differently. Ran talks about how she was hatched and all the different cheering stances there are. Miki informs me of her hatching time and shows all her drawings and paintings (which are very good for something so miniature). Su rambles on about baking food and being the 'maid' of the Hinamori household (took me a bit to figure out what a 'Hinamori' was). Lastly, Dia shares her birth with me, how it felt to be an 'X' egg for a while, and about stuff she found interesting or likeable (which takes what feels like hours).

Willow completely wastes her time with sharing _every single embarrassing moment _of my _**life**_. Then she goes on about how she was born (making no sense whatsoever with the event-censor we have on my youth), her likes and dislikes (also hours-on-end), and her rivalry with Yoru. Miki and Willow get into a bit of a fuss about Yoru being obnoxious, but she gets right back to chatting us up once Amu and I stuff them into their eggs for a bit. That's when the subject of my cat ears comes up.

"I thought there was something odd about your eyes…" Dia taps her chin.

My hat comes off and the fuzzy ears poke up, wriggling from long hours of captivity. "Gee, thanks," I mutter. I've heard worse, so I'm not going to go all sailor-mouth on her. "Not like I haven't heard _that _before."

Amu giggles and pats my back. "Don't worry about it; I've seen Ikuto with cat ears too, so we're not going to insult you." Right…Well his aren't permanent, are they?

_YANK!_

"YE-EE-OW!" I jump, clamping my hands down on my ears. My poor ears! HOW DARE SOMEONE TUG THEM?**!** My head lashes around to face the culprit. "NOW LISTEN HERE YOU RAT-ASS PIECE OF-!"

That's when the jerk grabs my nose, tugs it towards his face, and glares at me. Yep. I can recognize those purple eyes from anywhere…Now if only Amu wasn't here, then I could shoot him with no witnesses, hide the body, then run for America. After all, I would _totally _fit in with their crowd (NOT). "Rat-ass piece of _what_, exactly?" he growls.

"Oh can it you-!" I swing a punch or two at him. Per usual, he dodges. "Jeez…"

Amu is blinking at us, amused. "Trixie, don't you want to tell Ikuto something?"

Huh? What's she-?...Oh. What I yelled to Yoru instead of Amu…"Yep!" I stand up, being all teen-perky (it's a thing). Ikuto's confused, so I yank his ear close to my mouth and scream at the top of my lungs, "**IKUTO YOU SON OF A BITCH! HOW COULD YOU BLAME A LITTLE GIRL FOR STEALING SOME STUPID NECLACE?**_**!**_"

"Ow, ow, **OW!**" he roars, covering the now bleeding ear. Guess cats have better lungs than thought out to have. Now instead of the hoped for apology, I get this wise crack: "WHAT DAMN BUSINESS IS IT OF YOURS ANYWAY?**!**"

"You made a girl cry, Ikuto! CRY!" I flail my arms. "What you got to say to _that_?**!**"

"Oh boy…" Willow sighs. "Onee's going gangster again…" Okay, ONE time when I was ten and she holds that over my head for life. What the Hell, Willow? Just what the Hell?

Ikuto's red-faced and angry. Ooh, I'm _SO __**DAMN**_**SCARED!** "THAT GIVES YOU NO EXCUSE TO MAKE MY EAR BLEED!"

"IT DOES WHEN YOU'RE BEING AN ASS ABOUT ALL OF THIS**!**" He pales a little bit before I continue, but keeps the rage-face. "Think about it, Ikuto! You accused me INSTANTLY of stealing that necklace, and then you go and pretty much accuse this little thing?"

Amu glares and crosses her arms. Her charas giggle in the distance, but I can tell that they're trying to contain it. "Who's little?" she pouts.

Ikuto glances at her and frowns a bit as if he finally gets what a bad move it was to accuse his crush (or obsession) was. After a little stare off between the two, he turns to me. We have our little stare off, in which I constantly try to send him the message _'screw a cow_' through telepathy. I don't think he got it because he doesn't look either angry or scarred at this point. With a sigh and a scratch of his neck, he turns to Amu again. "…I'm sorry," he mutters. "But you do realize how important that key is, right?"…What.

She nods and taps her lock. "It's just like my lock; can't transform without it."…OHSHIT. OHSHIT. OHSHIT. WHAT. HAVE. I. DONE.

Willow looks just as doomed as I am. Though I have to admit, he's probably only going to go for the one who has arms, legs, and fingers that are **able** to snatch the key in the first place. My phone rings and I silently thank God for granting me with some mercy. "G-Gotta go!" I squeak. "Calls are not for crowds, you know!" Willow character changes and I leap off into a tree.

"Trixie wait!" Ikuto calls, but I start skipping branches.

Now, not sure who even called; probably Mr. Miyamoto checking his tenants about the rent. All I know is that I need to get out of there before I turn into one of those teens on the TV who crack under pressure, admit to everything, and end up dead in an alley the next morning. This Lumpy Key or whatever the Hell Amu called it is actually IMPORTANT. IMPORTANT I SAY! Ugh, that feeling I got last night was right! Why do I never listen to myself?

Willow sighs and sits on my shoulder. Guess she's tired from having to fly to catch up. "And this is why Onee-chan has a guardian; so she doesn't find herself in deep shit." Oh look who's growing a potty mouth.

"THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR THE '_I-TOLD-YOU-SO' _LECTURE!" I weep. "THIS IS TIME FOR RUN-"

_CRASH!_

On the sidewalk, I bite my lip as to not scream and make the other person's ears bleed. Rubbing my tail, I stand up. Jeez am I a mess today or what? "S-Sorry about tha-…" I look at the person I collided with and my jaw drops.

Train Heartnet.

"Ugh, OW." He's also rubbing his rump, but I don't exactly know what for; he doesn't have a tail after all. "If you're after a target, I get the rush, but WATCH FOR THE PEDESTRIANS."

Only one way to get him to shut up, huh? "I'll buy you lunch?" Just like that, I find myself walking to the nearest buffet with a grown man clinging to my waist. Willow shakes her head in her hands, and I completely understand what for.

At the buffet, I'm staring at a plate of nothing but chicken and fish for ten minutes. Willow eats all of the fish with a happy grin on her face, recording her thoughts of each one in her notebook. I try to think back as to how the notebook started, but a loud thump destroys the thought process. Instead I turn to Train's monster of a food pile, which consists of a_t least_ two of everything (even condiments). Might need to get my stomach pumped just by _looking _at it later…

Train faces me after scooping in two spoonfuls of crap. "So what's buggin' ya', Trix?" Oh, so I'm a cereal now? "I can tell you're upset."

I give him a shrug and nibble on a chicken wing. "Nothing really…" I mutter.

"Don't lie," Train sighs. "If you're going to show it, might as well tell it, right?"

My eyes roll. "One, who even says that?" He points to himself; dick-wad. "Two, it's nothing, okay?"

"Sure doesn't seem like nothing."

"Ugh…" I groan. "Just butt out of my business, okay Train?" Train ignores me and leans in. As a reflex, I lean as far back as I possibly can. "…Eh, what are you doing?"

All he does is sit there. After a few minutes, Train leans back and starts shoveling food into his mouth again. "Something about that Tsukiyomi kid?" he asks. Wide-eyed and stunned, I nod. "Figured. Listen, if she's on her period-"

"**IKUTO. IS. A. BOY."**

He gasps and grips patches of his hair. "HE IS?**!** _THE WORLD IS ENDING!"_ I smack his arm for insulting Ikuto and creating a scene. Seriously, people are starting to stare here! "Hehe, kidding~ Anyways, what's the trouble?"

Might as well get it out, right? Train listens calmly as I explain how I took the key thinking Ikuto was turning into a girl or something. He nods once or twice as I explain what the actual purpose is. Finally, he pats my back as I moan about Amu and Ikuto and how Ikuto's going to have my head if I tell him I took it. "Sounds silly, right?" I huff. Again, Train nods. "Ugh…So any ideas of how to get it back?"

"Sneak into his house; is it that hard to come up with?"

Willow makes a sound like the 'wrong' buzzer in a game show. Flying up to Train, she shows him a doodle in her notebook that maps the Tsukiyomi house. "His room is on the second floor, and the stairs make noises! How is she supposed to get on the second floor?" Willow nags.

Train thinks for a second before a grin stretches along his face. Oh _crap._ "I have an idea~"

Hours later, I'm standing in front of Ikuto's house with Eve next to me and Willow napping under my hat. The key is in my pocket and my 'ninja outfit' is a black sweater with black slacks and black hiking boots. "You sure this is going to work?" I hiss at Eve. She shakes her head and I slump. "I'm doomed…"

"Look on the Brightside; a small portion of Train's plans have worked," she informs. To be honest, that doesn't help at all. "Okay, up you go."

Using her nano-tech (or whatever Sven called it), she lifts me up with morphed limbs up to Ikuto's room. The window's open (no shocker) while Ikuto snores in bed. He's just waiting for someone to break in, isn't he? Sighing, I creep over to his nightstand and gently set the key on the surface. It glistens a bit with the light of the moon, but that's of no issue. Proud with my work, I walk out of his door and to the stairs where I trip and fall because I can't fucking see. GREAT.

Willow is now on the ground, rubbing her head and caterwauling like no tomorrow about how much it hurts. Lights turn on and two people come out; Ikuto and Soko. "Trixie?" Soko blinks. "What are you-"-I rush for the door. "Trixie!"

Ikuto tackles me and tries to keep me still. My nails rake the ground in desperate attempts to get out. "NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. I'M NOT DYING THIS YOUNG."

"OH WOULD YOU," he groans, nailing my head to the ground with his hand. I grab his neck from behind and slam him against the floor. "OW!"

"DON'T MESS WITH A SWEEPER, BITCH!" I cackle, racing for the door again. He catches my ankle and I fall to the ground. "HEY!"

"Who are you hey-ing? YOU BROKE MY NOSE!"

"Oh WAH. THE POOR BABY!" Ikuto yanks my ear. "OW! YOU JERK!" I tackle him and we start fighting.

Willow is squealing and Yoru flies down to watch us fight. Soko is a pacifist (or so she says) and pries us apart, red in the cheeks. "Stop it you two!" she hisses. Straightening, she pats the skirt of her nightgown and faces us both with squinted eyes. "Now…I'm sure there is a perfectly logical explanation as to why Trixie was here, right?" She turns to me, but I don't answer. "…Trixie?"

Okay, admit it: Train's plan was not AT ALL logical. You know what I'm going to do? MURDER HIS FUCKING ASS FOR SCREWING ME HERE. I'll make it quick though, since I have to give him points for trying. Maybe Sven will help me out? Eh, who knows. Willow floats over and sits in a ball on my shoulder, shaking. Apparently she's worried, even though there's no need to be. I've handled myself before, why can't she see that I can handle myself now?

With a sigh, I scratch the back of my neck. "…I took something out of Ikuto's room when I visited before," I admit. Instead of immediately scolding me, Soko continues to stand there-listening. I continue with, "Honestly, I just thought he was going through puberty, what with a key like that. But…Then someone told me that it was more important than that…" At this point Ikuto's red with fury, but I can see a little understanding somewhere. Well deep,_** DEEP**_ down, that is. "A friend told me that I should just sneak it back and he wouldn't notice, but…" I point to a small blood patch on my sleeve. "That turned out real well, didn't it?"

Soko bites her lip for a second before sighing and rubbing her right temple with two fingers. "Trixie, I appreciate the fact that you're concerned about Ikuto…"

"I'm not," Ikuto snaps. "I'm just fine." He turns to me with a stern expression. "Next time you take something, just come to me and return it for crying out loud; don't lie to my face."

"IT WAS OVER THE PHONE DUMMY!" Willow laughs, rolling off my shoulder.

Yoru starts scolding Willow about how Ikuto's not an idiot and that I am. Those two start arguing and I giggle a little. "Save your breath, Ikuto," I sigh. "You know I'm not going to listen."

Soko smiles as Ikuto rolls his eyes with a slight grin on his face. "Yeah, I guess you won't…" He looks at the stairs. Then he peeks out the window. "…Well, it's late. Guess we can finish your scolding in the morning." This makes me laugh.

Yoru blinks and looks at Willow, who has her notebook lifted up in the air prepared to hit him. "Wait, they're leaving?" Ikuto nods and Yoru frowns. "Already?"

"Kind of late for Trixie to leave though…" Soko muses to herself. After some thought, she snaps her fingers with realization. "Why don't you stay the night? Kazuomi isn't going to be home until ten A.M, and it'd give me some peace of mind."

I want to refuse, I really do. Yet, next thing I know, Willow brainwashes me with a Character Change and I'm brushing my teeth with a spare toothbrush. Ikuto and Yoru laugh at my miserable expression. Instead of in the sink basin, I spit out the toothpaste at Ikuto, who gets hit, and spend some time evading Ikuto and a metal soap dispenser. Soko stops us once again, and Ikuto gives her some attitude until Willow releases me from the trap and lets me doze on the couch. They leave the room soon after that.

A few minutes into my nap, my phone blares. The caller ID shows that it's Sven. I click call. "Hello…?" I slur.

"_Hey Trixie!" _Train greets. _"How'd it go?"_

"**SEVEN DAYS."** With that, I hang up and pass out once more, Ikuto and Soko laughing in the other room.


End file.
